Mother Moon
by HistorianoftheKais
Summary: Has anyone noticed how Naruto’s Sexy technique looks a bit like Usagi? What if there was a reason for that similarity? a Naruto Sailor Moon crossover Naruto Harem
1. Chapter 1

Title: Mother Moon

Rating: T

A Naruto/Sailor Moon crossover

Has anyone noticed how Naruto's Sexy technique looks a bit like Usagi? What if there was a reason for that similarity?

Chapter 1

Usagi was in tremendous pain as she lay on her hospital bed desperately trying to give life to the child within her womb. There was a sense of urgency knowing that the hospital could soon be under attack by that horrific tailed-beast, the Kyuubi. Looking into the mid-wife's eye after a push Usagi could see the fear that resided in the mid-wife's heart. If the woman had the ability to look back on her life and not focus on the immense pain she was currently in she would have been surprised at the route her life had taken.

Konoha was not her native town; in fact the world she was living on was not even the world of her birth. Eight years ago she had been caught in the explosion caused by the destruction of Pharaoh 90. When she had awaken in the Konoha hospital she was told that a genin team lead by their jonin sensei had found her washed up on the shore surrounded by the wreckage of things they couldn't identify.

She then had met with the team that had found her and that's where she met him, Minato Namikaze. The two of them had a few minutes of conversation before Minato offered to let her stay with him for a few days until she could, "get back on her feet." At the time she didn't know why but that night she revealed to Minato the fact that she was from a different world. Minato was shocked for a moment but then just smiled and accepted this as a fact.

Minato explained to Usagi that, while he believed her, most of the people in Konoha wouldn't believe her and call her crazy. That night the two of them stayed up crafting a cover story for her. In the end they decided to say that she was on board a ship from a country across the Eastern Ocean that sank. To explain away her unique abilities Minato said that they would just say that it was a bloodline limit. Everyone accepted the story except for the Hokage who they told the truth to.

Over the years she and Minato kept in close touch until three years ago when Minato asked her to marry him and she accepted. They were married just six months after the end of the Leaf-Rock War and two months before Minato became the Fourth Hokage. When she had found out that she was expecting a child she and Minato couldn't be happier. However, for the past two weeks she had been ill and was bed-ridden in the hospital in order to make sure that her and her child would be safe. Then that blasted fox had to appear and her child decided to come out NOW of all times.

The pain of giving birth was beginning to be unbearable for her, her son seemed stubborn in wanting to come out even though she had gone into labor. After one last push she heard the crying of her child taking his first breath in the world. One of the mid-wife's assistance came next to her and said, "You have a healthy baby boy Usagi."

Sarutobi silently cried as he looked at the little baby sleeping peacefully in his arms. The little boy was only a few days old, but sadly most of the civilians in Konoha harbored a deep hatred for the little babe. They blamed little Naruto for the sins that the Kyuubi had wreaked on Konoha even though the two were separate persons.

When Sarutobi thought about the situation he let out a curse towards his predecessor, "Damn you Minato. I should have been the one to use the seal not you. As a result of your stubborn determination your only son is now an orphan and hated by the village we've sworn to protect. At least our ninjas respect your skills enough to know that your son is not the Kyuubi."

Sarutobi stopped his gripping when he saw a furry black cat with a crescent moon on her forehead moving quietly along the corners of his office. Sarutobi then spoke up and said, "Hello Luna; is there something I can help you with?" Luna turned her head to look at Sarutobi before she walked near and jumped onto his desk.

Luna looked lovingly at the little babe resting in the old Hokage's arms before speaking, "Yes there is something you can help me with. You can tell me your plans are for my prince." Sarutobi almost chucked when he looked at Luna as she spoke to him. It always made Sarutobi smile when he saw Luna and Usagi's good cop, bad cop routine. Although the little advisor was always overly paranoid in his mind, one could tell how much she cared about Usagi and now Naruto.

In his wise old grandfatherly voice Sarutobi said, "Don't worry your little head Luna. You know that I loved Usagi like she was my own daughter, just like almost everyone who knew her. Besides, I owe Minato quite a lot and the village is sadly just increasing the debt owed to Naruto's family. I've gotten the Council to leave Naruto alone, but I can't adopt him like I would have liked to do. I've arranged for you and Naruto to have a small cottage on the edge of one of the quieter edges of town. Sadly, Naruto can't live in his parent's house until he can claim his father's name and we both know the conditions for that to happen."

At this point both Luna and Sarutobi bowed their heads in thought. Naruto would have to have his true name hidden to protect him until he became a Chunin, he reached 18 years old, or he married. Luna's face grew firm as she spoke, "I may only be able to be in my human form for 1 hour out of 3, but I WILL take care of Naruto. When they really needed help, I couldn't help his mother or his grandmother. I WILL NOT fail Naruto now when he needs my help." Sarutobi just nodded his head and thought that maybe Naruto's luck was about to change.

Almost 12 years latter…

In a meadow on the edge of Konoha, as the sun was casting its evening light, a little boy could be found. Naruto Tuskino, the future Hokage according to him and 'that demon brat' according to some of the nastier villagers, was hard at work practicing his martial arts. Naruto didn't know why most of the older villagers hated or ignored him, but he wanted to change that. He wanted to become Hokage to protect the few people that were kind to him and to show the others how wrong they were about him. Sweat was starting to run down Naruto's face as he finished his rough kata. The kata was choppy and had a lot of holes in it, but it was coming along fairly well and in a few days should be his 7th custom kata.

At the ninja academy, the martial arts instructor seemed to have a grudge against him and would only teach Naruto the minimum. It had been about 4 years ago when, just a few days into the academy, Naruto noticed that some of the kids were better in that particular class and were using different styles. Determined not to be outdone, right then and there Naruto had silently vowed to create a powerful family style for the Tuskino family. Over the past three years Naruto took his minimal academy training, his observations of chunin practicing, and his own gut instinct to slowly form the Gintuskiken (Silver Moon Fist) style of martial arts.

It wasn't just his own observations that he used in creating and refining the Silver Moon Fist. Whenever he could, Naruto would go to the local library to read about ninjas. Those books had been a godsend to Naruto whenever he was stuck on something. The most blaring example of this happened a year ago when he was trying to get a basic framework for the Silver Moon Fist together. Naruto was on the verge of giving up and going to old man Sarutobi for help when he read that some martial arts schools were based on the movements of animals. Ever since then Naruto had adopted the feline movements of Aunt Luna.

Suddenly Naruto's practice was interrupted by a voice yelling, "Naruto get in the house now! Supper's starting to get cold." After yelling that he was coming, Naruto started to walk back home where Aunt Luna was waiting for him. Naruto might have thought it strange that his 'Aunt' was a talking cat who, on occasion, could transform into a human, but he just took it as a fact of his life. Luna and Naruto loved each other dearly; even a blind man could see that about the aunt and nephew.

One thing that Naruto liked about Luna was the she supported him in everything he did. She never claimed that something was out of his reach if he worked hard enough at it. While Sarutobi and latter Iruka cared deeply for Naruto and he cared for them, they just weren't there 24/7 like Luna was with him. When Naruto had said, at age 5, that he wanted to become Hokage Luna had told him that he would have to work hard to get there and she would help him. When Luna taught him what she could about being a ninja she made sure that he paid attention and heaven help him if she found out that he had been slacking at the academy.

Naruto walked through the door of the small cottage to see Luna waiting on the dinner table in her cat form for him. After Naruto sat down at the table the two of them began to eat. It was a simple meal that Luna had prepared for them as even after 12 years of practice she could only make simple meals. The meal was eaten in silence as Luna was too busy eating her meal and Naruto was, for the moment, tired out.

Once dinner was over and the dishes taken care of, Naruto hurried upstairs and then hopped out of his bedroom window onto the roof. It was a warm evening with clear skies granting Naruto the full view of the heavens. Ever since Naruto could remember, he was fascinated by the heavens. There was something about the stars and the moon that just seemed to 'call' to him. Naruto knew the names of all the stars and their locations throughout the year by heart. Naruto could with a glance at the heavens and tell where he was to within a second or two of his actual position. When Iruka had found out about that skill he had told Naruto that it would help Naruto on long distance missions.

Naruto spent a few hours just looking at the moon and forgetting his worries and troubles. Whenever he was feeling nervous or troubled, Naruto had found a quick glance at the moon calmed him down. Once he had told this fact to Luna and said that it was quite funny as his name meant 'Maelstrom of the Moon'. For a moment Naruto swore he saw shock on Luna's face, but when he looked again she was smiling and agreeing that it was quite funny. Slowly Naruto's eyelids closed as the young ball of energy went off into dreamland.

"Where on Earth am I?!" Naruto yelled into the air around him. The last thing that he could remember was falling asleep on the roof of the cottage, which definitely wasn't where he was now. Looking around him all Naruto saw was the fallen ruins of some grand marble building, and that he was apparently in the courtyard of the building. Naruto closed his eyes and said to himself, "Okay first things first; I'll figure out where I am and then I'll plan from there." Naruto opened his eyes facing the heavens to see… the Earth?!

Naruto started to freak for a second before he got control of himself and smirked. Going over the situation in his mind Naruto almost laughed, "Interesting Genjutsu. I half to admit that it had me going for a second, but that Earth is just a dead give away." Naruto then proceeded to try the release method for dispelling the 'genjutsu'. Seeing that the sight around him was the same Naruto started to grumble, "Okay someone knows what their doing when they created this illusion. However, there's more than one way to break an illusion." Naruto then grabbed a sharp rock that was lying on the ground and proceeded to cut his arm.

"I would advise you to stop trying to undo this as it's not an illusion." A soft gentle voice from behind Naruto said just as Naruto's cut was rapidly healing. Naruto spun around to face the owner of the voice and demand that she explain herself. However, Naruto's plans stopped when he gazed on the image of the woman in front of her. She was unearthly beautiful with long purple hair styled in ox horns with streamers. On her head rested a delicate diamond crown while her face was gentle and caring with a crescent moon birthmark on her forehead. Her dress was simple and pure white.

The woman smiled at Naruto and said softly, "My name is Queen Serenity and I mean you no harm Naruto. If fact, I have been waiting a long while to meet you." Naruto lowered his guard; for some reason his instincts were telling him to trust this queen in front of him. Still, where were they and why was a queen waiting to meet him? These two questions gnawed at the back of Naruto's mind demanded to be answered.

As if she saw his inner struggle Queen Serenity calmly said, "I'm sure you want to know where we are and why I want to meet you." Serenity then sat down on a fallen marble pillar and motioned for Naruto to sit next to her. Trusting in his instincts, Naruto quietly complied with her request. "Now then Naruto, we are currently in an area between the world of the living and the afterlife where our souls can meet and talk. You see, I die long ago when the kingdom whose ruins are shown around you was destroyed. Now for the second question that is likely on your mind, 'Why does she want to meet with me,' requires a back story to understand."

A sad look crossed Serenity's eyes and a tear fell as she remembered those days. However unpleasant these memories were for the late queen, Serenity was determined to not let them get the better of her and so continued her tale. "You see Naruto; the universe is like a great tree with many branches. These branches or dimensions represent different chains of events that result in different things happening. I come from a different dimension then the one you live in.

"A long time ago, in my dimension, there was a large empire spanning across the entire solar system and I was its queen. But my empire was destroyed when a woman, who desired my daughter's boyfriend, made a pact with an entity of pure evil and together destroyed my empire. I had managed in the end to seal this entity along with the woman into another dimension. Seeing my world literally dying in front of my eyes, I used the last of my strength to send the soul of my daughter, her love, her friends, and the few surviving people of my kingdom to be reborn on the planet Earth.

My daughter Serenity was reborn on earth as Usagi Tuskino. When she was 14 she meet my advisor Luna and gained the ability to use a portion of her royal power. She, along with her love and friends, fought against several evils that were threatening the people around her. During her last battle with a powerful creature known as Pharaoh 90, Usagi was caught in the aftershocks of the creature's death and sent to your dimension. She then met your father and later had you just before she died. So see Naruto, I'm your grandmother."

Naruto just sat there for a minute trying to process what this lady, his grandmother, was telling him. Hesitantly Naruto asked "So I'm really your grandson and a prince?" Serenity just smiled and nodded her head towards her grandson before she pulled him into a hug. Naruto couldn't be happier that he had found out about his family. All that Luna would tell him when he asked was that his father was a high ranking ninja and that she couldn't tell him more until certain conditions were meet to assure his safety.

Serenity then pulled Naruto back and had him face her before she seriously said, "Naruto, I don't have a lot of time left to talk to you so I'll be brief. Shortly after you were born Naruto, the Kyuubi was sealed inside of you. Ask Luna or that kind old Hokage to tell you the full story. The point of me telling you this is that having the Kyuubi within you jump started your lunar royal powers. As a member of the lunar royal family you have immense power naturally and power that you draw from the Moon. Your powers have been active since that beast was sealed within you constantly fighting against it.

"As a result of this constant usage, along with the purifying nature of our lunar energy, the Kyuubi has been killed. However this great peace of news has left you with a very serious problem. Your body, on its own and by drawing from the Moon, naturally generates the power of 12 Kages all the time. However, your body at its current state can't withstand the strain. Even with your healing ability that you took from the Kyuubi, your body will soon destroy itself due to its young age and not fully matured Chakra network."

"But don't worry about it my handsome grandson; I've been able to create a solution for your problem. Thanks your excess power and my limited abilities, I was able to alter how you naturally generated your energy. You now have three 'states' grandson. These states are in order of weakest to strongest: civilian, senshi, and royal. Your civilian form is limited to only the energy that your body naturally generates on its own. With the senshi state you gain control of about 1/10 of the energy you draw from the Moon, in addition to your natural strength. The final state, royal state, grants you full access to the powers of the Moon that you currently can call upon."

"As long as you don't go for days on end at your current training level, your senshi form will not cause your body harm. Your senshi form also grants you an armored outfit along with some powerful attacks that you will instinctively know. Moving on you half to know about your royal state; it is incredibly powerful, but you can at your level of training only hand its power of at most 30 minutes before it harms your body. If you are EVER forced to use it in a fight, end it as QUICK as possible. In order to reach these states you have to say the transformation words for them. Don't worry yourself about the transformation phrase, when you wake up you will know them. Also, as these powers are going to be transmitted to your descendents, I want you to know that they will all learn on their own what their transformation phrase. Even if their transformation phrase is the same as another person's and they utter the phrase, they won't be able to transform until they learn from within themselves what the phrase is."

Knowing that their time was almost up Serenity pulled Naruto into a hug again and whispered softly in his ear, "I love you grandson. Your parents are very proud of you and how you've grown. Don't cry dear one, this isn't the last time that we will met each other. I'll pop in from time to time just to visit or when you really and honestly need me." The landscape around Naruto started to get foggy like a mist was rolling in. Just before he felt his grandmother's arms stop hugging him Naruto whispered, "I love you grandma."

Naruto woke up with the morning sun to find himself on the roof of his house. Pulling himself up into a sitting position Naruto briefly wonder aloud, "What that all just a dream?" He immediately shook his head, knowing in his mind that what had happened had not been a dream but something more. While Naruto wanted to find out more about why he had carried the Kyuubi, he wanted to try out his new abilities a lot more.

Naruto hopped off the roof and down to the ground before he took off running towards the meadow where he liked to practice. Stopping in the middle of the meadow, Naruto hurriedly looked around to make sure that no one was by chance near him. He then calmed down and remembered what his grandma had told him about accessing his powers. Naruto closed his eyes and began trying to meditate to find out his transformation phrase.

It took a few minutes, but Naruto succeeded and found his senshi release phrase. Naruto was a little confused about the phrase and with a questioning tone said, "Moon Crystal Armor, Energize?" As soon as the last word was uttered from Naruto's lips, a bright flash of silver light hid him from view. When the light ended only a second latter, Naruto could feel the large surge in his power level and the sharpening of his senses.

Wanting to know what he now looked like in his senshi form, Naruto quickly walked over to the edge of the meadow where there was a small stream. Looking back a Naruto from the water was a young boy dressed in a silvery white outfit that looked liked something from the 1001 Nights that Luna sometimes read to him. The cape of the outfit was pinned with a small silver crescent moon. Due to the hood of the cape and the face mask of the outfit, one could only see Naruto's startling blue eyes. At Naruto's right side was a small curved silver dagger; while at his right side was an ornate but functional katana.

For a moment or two Naruto just admired his new outfit, then he began to wonder at what special abilities it granted him. As soon as Naruto asked that question in his mind, knowledge of his abilities' began downloading into his mind. The dagger at his side had an attack called 'Selene Shield Shatter.' This attack would, depending on the amount of energy he put in it, destroy any barriers that a person created via a jutsu or magic. The sword at his right, besides having an incredibly sharp edge, had a mid-range attack called 'Serenity Slash'. Finally, Naruto's longest range and most precise attack was summoning a magic bow and unleashing an 'Artemis Arrow.'

Naruto was thinking about trying out one of his attacks, but then he heard a noise coming from behind him. While pulling out his sword, Naruto turned to face the cause of the noise. Suddenly a sent that Naruto unconsciously recognized floated by his now extremely sensitive noise. His brain putting a face to that scent, Naruto suddenly let out a cry of surprise, "LUNA?? Luna, if that's you can you please come out now to where I can see you?"

From behind a small bush, out walked Naruto's feline aunt. Luna, with a look of surprise on her face, sat down on her hind feet in front of Naruto and uttered out, "How did you-" At this point, Luna lost all ability to speak and just pointed to Naruto's new outfit silently. Naruto was confused for a second but then realized what she was referring to that had left her speechless. Within his mind Naruto debated whither or not to tease her.

However Naruto decided that he didn't want to be so mean to Luna, especially since it looked like she was about to have a heart attack. "I fell asleep last night looking at the Moon. I then found myself in some marble ruins that looked like they were on the Moon. There I meet the spirit of the last queen of a Lunar Kingdom who claimed to be my grandmother. She then says that I have had the Kyuubi placed in me, but that because of my 'royal heritage' my body destroyed the Kyuubi. She told me that I would be able to transform into this 'senshi' form as she called it and also a 'royal' form, but that the 'royal' form would be too dangerous for me for now."

For a minute after Naruto stopped his explanation, both he and Luna stood in the field silently. Then Luna clapped her hands together in a little prayer and said, "Thank the Goddess, I always was afraid that the Kyuubi would prevent you from showing your full heritage." Luna's face then turned serious as she looked Naruto directly in the eyes and continued to speak. "Naruto, de-transform immediately and speak of this and your heritage to no one. Today, while you're taking your genin exam, I will speak with the Hokage about this."

Seeing that Naruto was about to complain Luna said, "Naruto this is very serious. Some people may take your new power as something given by that demon even though its not. Also, your mother was known for her royal abilities even if she just claimed that they were a bloodline limit. While your mother was quite we loved, she also had enemies who were jealous of her. Those enemies of hers plus the enemies of your father, if they put two and two together, if they see your royal abilities will come after you to terminate you."

Luna was now sporting a tear in her eye as she continued to speak to the now worried Naruto. "Please Naruto; I lost your grandmother and then your mother. I would die now if I lost you as well. I know that you have craved to be accepted by the village as a whole, but is that acceptance you so crave worth dying so soon after you gain it? Soon you will be strong enough to protect yourself and all those that you hold dear from those who seek to harm you and them. Then you will have that acceptance you so crave, but you have to wait for that point."

Naruto thought about what his aunt had to say. He quickly decided that having the respect of the villagers wasn't worth putting his life and the lives of his few precious people on the line. Naruto then closed his eyes and focused on de-transforming. After a minute, Naruto found the mental 'switch' to flip so that he could return to his civilian form. A brief flash of light latter and Naruto was standing in front of Luna.

Naruto then reached down and gave Luna a big hug while he was happy saying, "Thanks for the advice Auntie Luna. I love you." At this Luna smiled before replying that she loved him as well. This family bonding moment was broken when Naruto suddenly realized something that he yelled out, "I have to be at the Academy in 10 minutes and I'm not ready!!"

Luna suddenly found herself floating in the air as Naruto ran for the house to quickly pack what he needed for the test. She quickly back flipped in order to land on her feet and then turned to look at Naruto's dust trail. Suddenly Luna remembered an earlier time when she would watch a different blond run about trying to get to class on time. Even though Usagi's death still hurt the black cat, thinking about her and how she could be found in her lovable son brought a tear to Luna's eye. Quietly Luna whispered, "You would be proud of him, my beloved princess. He's everything you said you wanted in a child, and I promise that I'll always help him reach his full potential."

Author's Notes: So what do you think for the start of the story. I know that the Moonlight Knight was Mamoru in the Anime, but that was Anime only and that outfit is SO much cooler than the Tux and those are the only two male hero fighting uniforms shown in the series besides 'Prince Endymion'. Question- just out of curiosity, do you guys want me to pair Naruto up with a Sailor Scout (brought to Konoha by a as yet undetermined method), A Naruto girl (and keep them two within like 3 or 4 years of Naruto's age, Setsuna Meiou exempted) , a harem of Naruto girls, a harem of Sailor Scouts, or a mixed harem? Note- the harem will, if I go that route, have a MAX of 4 girls. Feedback is appreciated and will help me make my decision; I retain the ultimate say on Naruto's love life for this story. Please note that any votes for Tsunade or Chibi-Usa will be ignored.

Omake:

Gai: Don't worry Naruto, I shall teach you how to perform the youthful poses that your mother was famous for.

Luna pulls out a Smith and Wesson Model 29 and points it at Gai.

Luna: What was that Gai? Did you say something?

Gai: Damn you Kakashi for teaching the cat your hip ways!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's notes: wow. Over 225 hits in less than one day, I'm grateful that people are reading this story and I hope you all continue to like it. I don't think a put in a disclaimer last chapter so: **I don't OWN NARUTO OR SAILOR MOON!!! ** There, I said it and I don't think I have to repeat myself on any latter chapters. Agreed? Good, now let's continue the story.

Naruto roof-hopped as fast as he possibly could towards the Ninja Academy hoping that he wouldn't arrive late for the exams. Still, he had to admit, that if he was late he would at least have a good excuse. That would be if, as he realized, he could tell it to Iruka. However, Luna had taught Naruto not to break his word once he gave it and Naruto especially didn't want to break his word to Luna.

Luckily for Naruto, he managed to make excellent time and got into the classroom before Iruka. So, even though Naruto was technically late, Naruto didn't get in trouble for being late. Naruto managed to contain his excitement as he listened to what Iruka was saying. "Now then class, today is the day you have all been waiting for. Today you will be able to show that you have what it takes to become full fledged ninja of Konoha!" At this almost the entire class broke out in cheers before Iruka quieted them down. He then handed them a paper test and told them to start.

Once he collected the completed tests; Iruka then said to the class, after pulling out a clipboard, "Now I want you all to form a line and we'll head down to the gym. Once we get there, you will all be tested on your throwing accuracy, your taijutsu, and your stealth capabilities." It took a few minutes and the use of Iruka's infamous, at least among students, 'Big head jutsu' to get the rambunctious 13 year olds to form the line that Iruka wanted. Once he had corralled the cats- err graduate hopefuls, Iruka led them down to the gym where Mizuki was waiting for them.

Once their throwing accuracy test, in which Naruto scored above average, was done the students were told to sit on a bench. The students had been sitting for a few minutes while Mizuki and Iruka talked to each other before Mizuki walked up and said, "Okay then class, I'm sure you all want to know why your sitting here. Well then, we've decided that, in order to test your taijutsu skills, were going to have each of you fight a one-on-one match with your fellow students. Please note that you will not be allowed to use Nin or Genjutsu in the match and you are also not allowed to use weapons of any kind. Now don't worry if you lose, this is just for us to see how good your pure taijutsu is and while taijutsu is important to a ninja, it is not the only skill a ninja needs to succeed."

Since only one match was being held at a time, the students not currently fighting were just shooting the breeze with their friends. Naruto was sitting with his legs in a lotus meditating position with his hands crossed over his chest deep in thought. However much Naruto wanted to think about what he had found out about his life, his musings were quickly interrupted by Kiba who yelled at Naruto saying, "Hey moon fish, what happened this morning? Did your funny feline excuse for an aunt have trouble with a hairball or something?"

Not wanting Kiba to get the last laugh or insult Luna, Naruto fired back, "What would you know dog breath? After all, your owner Akamaru knows that you're too stupid to understand the spoken language." Kiba's mouth was wide open in shock as his and Naruto's classmates started laughing at him. Turning to see Naruto smiling at him with laughter in his eyes, Kiba shook his head and thought to himself, "That's a point to you my friend." Although Kiba and Naruto seemed to fight like cats and dogs, the two were reasonably good friends.

Suddenly Naruto and Kiba heard Mizuki call out, "Will Naruto Tuskino and Kiba Inuzuka please come up for their fight." At this the two friends got up and smiled at each other as they approached the ring. Once the two of them had reached their ends of the ring turned to face each other, each confident of their victory over their friend. Mizuki just looked at the two and said, "You both know the rule for this match, BEGIN!"

The two boys shot at each other and began to ferociously attack each other. Both the Inuzuka and the newer Tuskino family styles were animalistic in their attacks. It seemed to the onlookers that Naruto and Kiba were trying to claw each other's throats out. However, Kiba spent most of his taijutsu practice time at home and in class working with Akamaru. This fact meant that Naruto, who was faster and more unpredictable, was able to exploit several holes in Kiba's defense that would normally be protected by Akamaru.

Finally Naruto ended the fight by exploiting one of the holes in Kiba's defense. Naruto delivered a powerful kick to the other boy's ribs with one foot and another kick to Kiba's head. Naruto then back flipped off of Kiba, who was falling to the floor unconscious, to land on the ground hunched over on his back legs like a cat. A couple of the students who had been watching the fight clapped and Iruka smiled saying, "Very good Naruto. Now can you bring Kiba over here so that I can wake him up? After all, do you want to have a rematch after class with an angry Kiba and Akamaru because you caused them to miss the rest of the test now do you?"

When Naruto heard this he just grumbled a bit and dragged Kiba over to the sidelines. Naruto was starting to look around where he was for something to wake Kiba up when a hand went in front of his face. In the hand was a small container of smelling salts. Looking down the arm attached to the hand Naruto saw that it was Ino who had gotten the salt for him. With a quick "thank you", Naruto grabbed the container from Ino and promptly used it to get Kiba up. Ino and Naruto then helped the still wobbly Kiba get over to the bench.

Ino then had to leave for her match against one of the other girls in class. Kiba then, while only paying half attention to the fight going on, turned to face Naruto and said, "Good fight there Naruto." Kiba then smiled and said, "But you do realize moon fish, that if I was allowed to have Akamaru with me in the fight we would have cleaned your clock." Naruto playfully shook his head and said, "I must have hit you harder then I realized dog breath, you're suffering from delusions brought on by head trauma."

The two rivals and best buds stopped their good natured teasing to see Ino knock out her opponent. The two boys knew that Ino would win as her opponent was one of, besides Sakura Hurano, Sasuke's biggest fan girls. Although it annoyed the two boys that Ino, who was kind of their friend, was an Uchiha fan girls; they knew that at least Ino didn't let her crush distract her too much from her training, which was more than most girls could say.

After the last two students had their match, everyone headed outside two where some genin (in the most desired D-ranked mission available that day) had set up a very complex obstacle course. Iruka walked in front of the class and then said in his stern teaching voice, "Alright class. As you can see, behind me is a large obstacle course. Inside of this course are numerous non-lethal traps and noise makers. You must go through the obstacle course to the other end where there is a scroll inside a blood seal with your name on it place by me. After you've retrieved the scroll, you are to make your way back through the course to here where you will give me the scroll.

"Now then, before I start calling out names there are a few things that you should know about this course. You will be graded on how fast you complete this course and how SILENTLY you complete it. All along the course are various things set up that, if disturbed, will cause a bell to be rung. Also, if you activate a trap and are caught by it you will automatically fail this part of the test." Iruka then let that information sink into his students' brains, then he started calling people to run the course.

The first few people he had called up were abysmal failures getting caught by the first of 30 non-lethal traps. The next person managed to get through the course, but rang the bell a few times and took a good while to complete. Most of the class ether completely failed the course, rang the bell a lot of times, or rang the bell a few times and took a very long time to complete the course. However, Naruto just had to be difficult and disrupt the set pattern by finishing the course in the fastest time without ringing the bell once. A few of Sasuke's fan girls were baffled that Naruto was able to complete the course so well compared to Sasuke who was only average in the course.

Finally the students were herded into the classroom where they waited to be called for their final test. After a few minutes Naruto's name was called and the smiling blond boy was led by Iruka to a separate room for his testing. Iruka closed the door and with a smile on his face said to Naruto, "Okay Naruto I want you to use the substitution jutsu, the hedge jutsu to become the Hokage, and create at least 2 clones."

Naruto was confident about the substitution and the hedge jutsu, but he was nervous about the clones. Even with his hours of training for years, he still was pathetic with the clone jutsu. Still, he was so close to becoming a ninja, so Naruto left it up to chance and tried his best. His substitution jutsu was quite impressive as he switched with a potted plant on the other side of the room. Next Naruto hedged into the Hokage and was given a simple nod from Iruka showing that he had passed. Finally Naruto preformed the clone jutsu and closed his eyes.

Naruto opened his eyes to see two clones around him. One could pass as him, if a person's eyesight was less then great. The other clone looked like a badly burnt large roast. Naruto cringed at the sight and turned to face Iruka and asked. "Do I become a ninja or not Iruka?" Iruka scratched his head, thought about it for a moment, and then said. "While your clone technique is, to be blunt, the worst in the history of the Ninja Academy; your other skills are enough to make it up. Therefore it is my pleasure to declare you a new ninja of Konoha."

Naruto practically jumped up and down when he heard the news that he had graduated. He watched as Iruka put his hand in the box containing the forehead protectors for the graduates and pull out a protector. Iruka then handed the forehead protector to Naruto who eagerly put it on his forehead. Naruto then left the academy after hearing Iruka tell him when to show up for team placements.

Upon arriving at his and Luna's home Naruto found that Luna had left him a note on the table. Picking up the note Naruto read:

_Dear Naruto,_

_Sorry I'm not here to great you when you get home from your genin exam. It doesn't matter to me whither you pass or not as long as you do your best at it. However, I do sincerely hope that you pass your exam as I know how much you want to be a ninja. I've picked up some groceries that we were out of and put them away. I'm now heading over to visit the Hokage to talk about the you-know-what. However, you know how busy the Hokage can be so it might take a while to talk with him. Hopefully I won't leave you here alone for too long and I won't be mistaken for that hell beast Tora again! _

_Love,_

_Auntie Luna._

Naruto smiled after he read the note and placed it back on the table. It still amazed him that people could mistake his Aunt Luna for the most feared nightmare of all D-ranked missions. The last moron who had made that mistake was still walking funny from Aunt Luna's 'thousand years of pain' technique, which involved shoving the poor victim's own arm up their own butt. Not even Sarutobi had been able to figure out she did that on one of his own ninja, and in cat form no less!

Naruto then sat at the dinner table trying to decide what he should do while he waited for Luna to return to the house. Suddenly a thought came to Naruto's mind that he said out loud, "Hey, Luna doesn't want me to reveal my royal powers to anyone until she can talk to me. However, she never said anything against me practicing my powers as long as I don't get caught!" At this Naruto rubbed his hands together like the arc typical trouble maker before he ran out the door to go to one of his favorite training fields.

Naruto ran for a few minutes until he reached a meadow that was far away from any home or training ground in Konoha. Once there and Naruto made sure that no one was around, Naruto grinned and shouted out, "Moon Crystal Armor, Energize!" Naruto felt the now familiar power of his Senshi form flow into himself leaving him stronger than any two average Jonins.

Naruto then said to himself after he saw that he was in the same exact outfit as last time, "Ya know if I'm not supposed to reveal that this is me, how on earth can I use this form to fight other ninjas?" At that thought, Naruto crossed his arms across his chest and thought for a few minutes. Then he snapped his fingers when the answer came to him. "I know! I can go by an alias! Now what's a good name for this form? Mighty Moon, no that name's horrible. Should I go as Serenity Soldier? No, that just isn't right for me." Naruto thought long and hard about his options for a few minutes before he said. "I know! I'll go by the name Moonlight Knight. It fits as it connects me to the moon, which is where I get my extra power, and it shows my royal heritage with the noble title."

The newly named Moonlight Knight then thought about the next issue he should solve. One thing that he hadn't gotten to test with his senshi form, which was one of many things, was if he could use his ninja skills in the senshi form. To start this off, Naruto preformed a simple substitution jutsu. After running though his, admittedly small, collection of jutsu Naruto found that he couldn't use his hedge jutsu and that the clone jutsu just as bad as his untransformed state.

Naruto spent a few hours going over his skills and getting used to his senses and reflects while in senshi form. He was about to go home when his enhanced ears heard the sound of maniacal laughter. Naruto, while still in his senshi form, quietly approached the source of the laughter to see Mizuki running with a large scroll on his back and a sadistic grin on his face. Naruto thought about what to do when he heard Mizuki say something that made up Naruto's mind, "Once I deliver this to Lord Orochimaru, I'll become even more powerful than that old fool of a Hokage!"

Naruto recognized that name from his history class and knew that, what ever it was that Mizuki had on his back, could not reach the most vile and infamous traitor that Konoha had ever produced. From his position on a large tree branch above Mizuki, Naruto pulled out three Shuriken and let them fly at a ferocious speed. Mizuki barely sensed the shuriken in time to avoid a fatal encounter involving them and the back of his head. However, while Mizuki did avoid death, he lost several locks of hair and had his right ear cut.

"AAAHHHGG!!" Mizuki cried out, reflexively protecting his bleeding ear with his right hand. Enraged and with a touch of madness in his eyes, Mizuki yelled out into the night, "Who's the bastard who did this?! Whoever did this should reveal themselves to me right now, and I might just grant them a quick death!" At this Naruto smirked and said, thus drawing attention to his location on the branch, "I did that you traitor."

Mizuki looked on at Naruto standing there with on hand on the trunk of the tree and the full moon glowing behind him and yelled out, "I just want to know, before I kill you, just who the devil are you!" Although a little nervous do to the fact that he had never been in a death match before, Naruto confidently answered back, "I'm the Moonlight Knight. Just so that you know, I shall be the last person you meet before you met the Devil in Hell."

With the 'pleasantries' dispensed with, Mizuki started off their fight to the death. He pulled out a huge windmill Shuriken from a small seal on his wrist and sent it flying at Naruto. Naruto waited calmly for the Shuriken to come to him as he planed out his next few moves, eternally grateful now that Luna had made him play those strategy war games.

Just as Mizuki was about to smirk at the thought that his over-sized Shuriken would hit Naruto, Naruto quickly drew his sword and quickly sliced the Shuriken in half. While Mizuki was shocked at the sight, Naruto just smirked and yelled out, "Not good enough, now why don't you try my attack, Serenity Slash!" With that Naruto preformed a quick horizontal slash and a wave of silver energy went flying in the shape of a crescent moon towards Mizuki at extreme speeds.

Mizuki instinctively knew that the Serenity Slash, if it hit him, would kill him no if, ands, or buts. The traitor leaned back and rolled quickly to the left. Mizuki was rolling away so fast that he lost track of where he was in the forest and hit himself against a tree. While the tree didn't do any lasting damage, it did stun Mizuki. This stunning, along with the shock at seeing the 'Serenity Slash' dig into the ground about a foot before exploding leaving a two foot wide and several feet long crater in the ground, gave Naruto the time he needed to get down from the tree and stab Mizuki's heart. The last thing Mizuki saw before his eyes closed forever was Naruto de-transforming back into his regular form.

Once he dropped out of his senshi form, Naruto came out of his adrenaline rush and fell down on the ground in shock at what he had done. Naruto, while trained to be a ninja and had known that this would eventually happen, was still a young teenage boy who had just taken his first human life. Naruto raised his hands and looked slowly between them and Mizuki's still warm body and back again for a few minutes. He then leaned over and heaved up the snack that he had before training.

Naruto, after he was done emptying his stomach, smacked his face and shakily said, "Get a gripe Naruto. You knew that this was eventually going to happen when you signed up to be a ninja. You've stopped a traitor from giving something that is of obvious importance to one of the greatest criminals out there. What was it that the old man told you about this situation? He said 'one can't restore or return what was lost, only continue on and never forget about it; never forgive themselves should they forget the pain.'"

Naruto approached Mizuki's corpse and turned his gaze to the scroll on Mizuki's back. Speaking to himself again in a very tired voice, "Come on Naruto, You just have to return this scroll the Hokage and then put this behind you." Naruto took the scroll from Mizuki's back and started walking off towards the Hokage tower. He was about to leave the area when he shook his head and returned to Mizuki's body. Traitor or not, Naruto knew that he just couldn't leave the body there in the field exposed. With a great deal of effort, Naruto picked up the body and carried it bridal style back to the village.

It was ten minutes after Naruto started walking towards the tower that he ran into Iruka and Anko, who had teamed up with Iruka to find Mizuki and the scroll. The Chunin and Jonin took one look at the blank look on Naruto's face, the scroll on his back, Mizuki's body, and figured out that Naruto had stopped Mizuki. Iruka promptly sealed the body of his deceased, now ex-, friend and then lead Naruto strait to the Hokage.

In the Hokage's office when Iruka and Naruto arrived were a very worried Sarutobi and Luna. Both of them quickly grew sadder and more worried when Naruto told them that he had killed Mizuki after he heard him talking about giving the scroll that was on Mizuki's back to Orochimaru. Sarutobi, sensing that Naruto was leaving something out of his report, dismissed Iruka after telling the worried Chunin that the team lists would be on the Chunin's desk at the end of the week.

Once Iruka had closed the door, Sarutobi turned to Naruto and said in his worried grandfather voice, "Now then Naruto. What was it that you were leaving you were leaving out of your report?" At this Naruto's surprise showed for a moment before he realized that the Hokage had been around and had been a ninja since, according to Luna, before his_father _had been born. Naruto then said, "Everything is as I reported it. However, I was training in my senshi form at the time Mizuki encountered me and in was with the sword I have in senshi form that I slew Mizuki."

Sarutobi figured how hard it must be for Naruto to use something he had been so excided about earlier today to take another person's life. The kind old ninja then go out of his chair and gave Naruto a comforting hug. Softly the old Hokage whispered in Naruto's ear, "I know this is difficult for you Naruto. Just remember this, you have been given great power and with great power comes great responsibility. Tonight you wisely used the power that you have to protect this village from a very dangerous enemy. That scroll you recovered contains the most powerful Jutsu known in this village, and you prevented it from going to a man who would use it to kill the people of this village."

Sarutobi ended the hug and sat back down in his chair. This allowed Luna, who had now transformed into her human form, to walk up to Naruto and give him a hug. She also hand some words of comfort to say to her charge. "Naruto, I want to tell you something about your mother. When she first received the ability to access her powers, your mother was quite scared by it. I can't tell you how many nights she would cry herself to sleep because she didn't want the power she was burdened with. But your mother was able to find the courage and strength within herself to accept her burden and use it to protect others. I'll tell you something Naruto, I see that same courage and strength that I saw within your mother within you as well. And just like your mother, you have your friends who will help you through this and all other challenges."

Naruto now had a smile on his face. He was still upset and in pain due to what had happened with Mizuki, but he no longer was tormented by it. Knowing that he had Aunt Luna, old man Sarutobi, Iruka, and even Kiba & Ino, backing him up had returned Naruto's spirits to him. Remembering the scroll on his back, Naruto swung it around and into his hands before he handed it over to Sarutobi. Sarutobi gladly accepted the scroll from Naruto before putting it by his desk.

Lighting up his pipe, Sarutobi let out a puff of smoke before he started talking. "Naruto, in all of the commotion today, we've never gotten to explain to you the full situation with the Kyuubi. You see Naruto, when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha; it was like a force of nature. None of our jutsus slowed the beast down or even scratched it. Even at he strongest, the Yondaime Hokage could only hope to seal the foul demon. To this day, I am convinced that only one person in history who could have hoped to have truly slain that beast once and for all on that day. That person was your mother, Usagi Tuskino Namikaze."

"However, about a month before you were born, your mother was attacked and badly wounded by rouge ninjas from Iwa. Both you and your mother lived through the attack, as your standing here shows, but your mother was badly wounded. At the time the Kyuubi attack Konoha, your mother had been confined to her hospital bed due to a horrible infection that had set in as well as the lingering effects of poison from the attackers' weapons. Your mother had somehow established an empathic connection with almost all the ninjas of Konoha. The mental shock of all of their death by the Kyuubi, plus her injuries, prevented her from living more than a few minutes after your birth."

"Left with no other hope, your father Minato Namikaze took you and used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to lock the Kyuubi forever within you at the price of his soul. Yes Naruto, your father Minato Namikaze was the Yondaime Hokage. I had your last name changed to your mother's maiden name to help protect you from your father's enemies. I can understand if you want to take the Namikaze name again, but please don't do so until you are at least a chunin so that I can rest easier knowing that your can protect yourself from your father's enemies."

Naruto closed his eyes for a few minutes to fully digest what Sarutobi had told him. He had for a while suspected that he had some sort of blood connection to the Yondaime due to how much they looked alike and how little information about the Yondaime's family was available. However he had figured that their relationship was something like the Yondaime being an uncle or cousin to him, not that the Yondaime was his father. While other boys might have been angry at the Yondaime if they were in his position due to what his old man had done to him, Naruto wasn't angry at all. It was the only way to protect the village and he would have never respected his father if his father had chosen someone else instead of him to bare the burden of the Kyuubi. Besides, The Kyuubi was dead thanks to the power of his mother that flowed through his veins.

Opening his eyes Naruto looked directly into Sarutobi's eyes and said, "I understand why my father did what he did. I would have cursed him if he had dared to choose someone besides his own flesh and blood to have to bare the burden. Don't you worry about me going by my father's clan name anymore Sarutobi. I belong to the Tuskino clan and it is the Tuskino clan, not the Namikaze clan; that I plan to make into the greatest ninja clan. I would greatly appreciate it if you would transfer any and all holdings my parents left me in the Namikaze name over to the Tuskino family. I may respect and admire my parents, but I will not rest on what they have done and I will not have people respect me just for what they did." With said, Naruto bowed his head in farewell before leaving to go home.

About three minutes after Naruto left to go home Luna left to join her nephew with a scroll in her mouth. The scroll contained a few techniques that Sarutobi had written down and had asked Luna to give to Naruto. On the way out the door of the tower Luna passed by a Jonin who waved at her. Luna recognized the Jonin as one of the ninjas that Usagi had been very good friends with. If Luna could read the Jonin's mind then she would know that the Jonin was determined to get Naruto as part of their genin team and would accept no other answer but yes.

In the classroom about two weeks latter all of the new gennin were assembled and waiting for Iruka to come in and tell them which teams they were going into. Naruto was thinking back to the four jutsus on that scroll that Sarutobi had given to Luna. On the scroll was Earth release: inner head decapitation jutsu, Shadow clone jutsu (which was a clone technique that he could actually do), Great clone explosion jutsu, and Shadow clone Kunai jutsu. Currently Naruto was only able to perform the first two techniques on the scroll, but he was happy with his progress.

Naruto was so into his thoughts that he missed Iruka coming into the room and Iruka's speech. When Naruto stopped musing on the jutsus that Sarutobi had given him, Iruka was partway through the list of teams. "-Now then, team 7 we have Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Shino Aburame. Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake. Team 8 is Hinata Hyuga, Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi. And finally, For Team 10 we have Naruto Tuskino, Ino Yamanaka, and Kiba Inuzuka. Team 10's Jonin sensei will be Anko Mitarashi.

Author's Notes:

So what do you think of the story so far? Do you like the Jonin teacher I've selected for the new team 10? Hope someone can find the pattern to my team placements. Also remember, the vote for who you want as Naruto's wife or wives is still going on. I may not choose the most popular choice, but it does have a real impact on me come decision time.


	3. Chapter 3

Mother Moon Section 3

Author's notes: keep the reviews rolling folks, nothing fans the flames of creativity like a good review or even a constructive review. Remember to keep the votes for Naruto's wife/wives coming! Since I had the huge disclaimer last chapter, let's get on with the story.

SM-verse

It was a place that was both within and without of normal Space/Time. Off to the side of the Royal Palace of Pluto was a little building shaped like the oracle of Rome. Within this inconspicuous building was the door to the cavern that held the Time Gates. Within that cavern stood a single figure in front of the Time Gates, that figure was Setsuna Meioh, the senshi of Pluto and princess of the same world.

For the past month Setsuna had been frantically standing in front of the Time Gates, using every trick in her knowledge to manipulate the Time Gates to search for her missing princess. Usagi and Luna's bodies had never been found after the explosion of Pharaoh 90. This, plus the fact that Setsuna could still feel her connection of servitude to the Royal Moon family, told Setsuna that Usagi must still be alive. Setsuna had searched the time stream as far back as the pre-Cambrian period and as far forward as the Imperium of Man in the 40th Millennium.

But, for all of her searching, Setsuna had found no trace of the missing Moon Princess. This depressing fact had Setsuna to believe that Usagi must have been thrown out of the time stream all together and ended up in a different dimension. This thought saddened Setsuna greatly. She had no experience with searching through alternate dimensions and the books in her library only talked about how to travel to a known point in another dimension.

However, even though it looked hopeless to Setsuna, she was determined to succeed. The scouts had been forced to tell the Tuskino's about the fact that Usagi was Sailor Moon and why Usagi was missing. The pained look on her princess' parents' faces when Setsuna had to tell them that she didn't know when their daughter would be back home always haunted her mind. Setsuna would have sold her soul to Pharaoh 90 if she could give the Tuskino family their daughter back.

Suddenly Setsuna felt the Time Gates sense a burst of Lunarian Royal power. However, the burst was too short for Setsuna to find more then the hyper-dimensional 'area code' that the burst came from. Even so, this burst made Setsuna's heart fill with joy. She was closer than ever to finding where Usagi was, she would locate the particular dimension soon enough.

Naruto-verse

Naruto, Ino, and Kiba did not have to wait long to meet their new Jonin instructor. As soon as Iruka had announced Anko's name, Anko walked through the classroom door in her trademark jacket & fishnet outfit sporting her grin that made most Chunin want to run away. Anko pulled out a stick of Dango and ate it in front of the class looking like she didn't have a care in the world. One of the more pathetic of the new genins started laughing at Anko and her outfit. However, any humorous mood was quickly killed as Anko took the now bare Dango stick and lazily flicked it at the fool. That particular genin found the stick embedded in his seat on a few millimeters from something he really didn't want to lose.

Anko just smirked and yelled out, "Alright team 10. Gear up and met me on the roof in five minutes or I'll feed you to my favorite pet snake!" Anko then body flickered away leaving her new victims, -err students, to rush out the door. Iruka just sweet dropped as he saw the look of panic on the faces of the two troublemakers and their friend. Turning to face the rest of his class, Iruka looked to see the whole class suddenly very nervous at the thought of their own teachers.

Anko Mitarashi was casually leaning against the side of a shed that was on the roof and thought about the past as she waited for her students to appear. Usagi was the only person who not only trusted her after Orochimaru deserted, but Usagi had seen past her mask and seen the pain that Anko was in. Usagi had always been there for her and Anko would slit her own throat if she couldn't help Usagi's only son become the best that he could be. She dropped out of her musings as she watched her three new students rush onto the roof.

Anko motioned with a tilt of her head for her three genins to sit down in front of her. Seeing her students sitting down Anko said, "Alright maggots; we're going to be working with each other until ether you guys get promoted or you act stupid and get yourselves killed. I want to know what you like, what you dislike, what your hobbies are, and what your dream is."

Ino Yamanaka at this point raised her hand as if to ask a question. Anko rolled her head and eyes before saying, "If you want to know something, just ask." Ino looked sheepish for a moment before she said, "Ah Anko sensei? Could you answer the questions first? We know a little bit about each other, but we know nothing about you except for your name."

Anko smirked and said after getting strait into Ino's face and giving Ino her patented creepy smile, "So the gossip girl want to know about little old me eh?" Anko then went back to leaning against the shed and said, "Very well then gossip girl. I like Dango and seeing my enemy's blood spilled. I hate weak female ninjas who only chase after boys. My hobbies, well, I like spending time in the Forest of death. As for my dreams, well, I want to bring that bastard Orochimaru to justice."

Anko, with yet another Dango stick in her hand, pointed to Ino and said, "Alright gossip girl, spill your guts or I'll do it for you." Ino gulped and then quickly said, "My name is Ino Yamanaka; I like my friends, flowers, and Sasuke. I dislike Forehead Girl and most of the other girls in our class. My hobbies are working in my family's flower shop and reading psychology books. My dream is to become a respectable ninja and get a strong husband." It was implied by Ino's voice and posture that she hoped her 'strong husband' would be Sasuke Uchiha.

Anko the grunted and said, "Okay Dog Boy, you know the drill." At this Kiba growled because of the insult before he started speaking. "My name is Kiba Inuzuka; I like my partner Akamaru and playing jokes. I dislike Sasuke Uchiha and people who make fun of others. My hobbies are pulling off a good prank and training with Akamaru. I have a dream of becoming a good leader for my clan."

Naruto decided to beat Anko to the punch and said. "My name's Naruto Tuskino; I like my aunt Luna and a few other people around the village. I hate people who don't look at a situation from all angles and I absolutely despise people who expect to have things handed to them on a platter because of who their parents were. My hobbies are training and playing strategy games. My dream is to have a family and establish the Tuskino Clan as the most premiere ninja clan on the contentment."

Inside her mind Anko went over what her students had told her with what she knew from her files on them. "Boy, is this a very interesting team I've been given. That Yamanaka girl is a fan girl, no doubt about it. Luckily for me, it seems that her crush is not the Alpha and Omega of her existence like some of the worst cases and I can probably shape her up into a decent Genjutsu mistress. The Inuzuka, he's a bit of a toughie to place. Best bet is to teach him some more stealth techniques and help him with a few non clan jutsus to mix up his abilities a bit. Naruto, he just as determined as I thought he would be and could very well succeed at his dream. With the list of jutsus that the Hokage gave the boy and his awakened bloodline I won't need to teach the boy any jutsus for a while. For him I should just spar with him and teach him to work in a team better."

Team ten was nervously watching their new teacher as she stood there in thought. A slight shiver went down their spines as they saw Anko smirk and say, "Alright maggots its time for me to give you your final test." At this Ino blurted out, "What on earth do you mean by our final test?!" Anko closed her eyes, smiled at her team, and said "You honesty didn't think that passing the pathetically easy test you were given automatically made you a ninja did you? Each Jonin is expected to give their students one finale test before they accept the genin team as their students. If the genins fail the test, then the genins are sent back to the academy!"

The three young teens turned to look at each other and figured that they wouldn't like where this was going. Anko's smile got even brighter as she said, "Your exam is going to be different and far more challenging than any other team's test. You are going to take these paint cans-" at this point Anko pulled out some full pant cans from behind her back, "and you three are going to each write your initials on all the faces of all four Hokages on the monument. After you do that then all four, and yes I'm including the mutt, must then make it back to this rooftop before sundown. If even one of you is caught you will all fail this test. Oh, and just so that you know, your initials have to be able to be seen from the village." With that said, Anko body flickered away leaving the paint cans with the shocked kids.

Kiba smacked his hand against the ground and yelled out, "What is wrong with our sensei? How on earth does she honestly expect all of us to graffiti our names on all four of the Hokages' faces, especially graffiti them large enough to be seen by the village? We'll be caught by our fellow ninjas and sent back to the academy before we can start on the Nidame's face." Ino was just depressed and said in a defeated tone, "Not only that, but my parents will ground me for forever once we're caught. It won't matter if we're following our sensei's orders or not."

Naruto listened to his comrades complain about the hopelessness of the task, before he finally had enough of their complaining and yell at them, "What is with you two and this attitude?! We haven't even tried yet and you're already to go back to the academy!" At this Kiba turned his head and angrily answered Naruto, "Are you brain dead moon fish? Do you really expect us go pull something like this off and actually get away with it!"

Naruto smiled and said, "Don't worry dog breath; the task is actually easier than you believe." Turning to Ino Naruto said, "Ino, can you cast a weak low level field Genjutsu?" Ino blinked her eyes before she answered Naruto hopping that the unpredictable boy actually had a plan. "Yah, I can cast a low level field Genjutsu. It would leave me almost completely drained, but I can do it."

Naruto smiled has he was now sure that the half-baked plan he was cooking would actually work. He then motioned for Ino and Kiba to come closer to him and he pulled out a detailed map of Konoha. Naruto then began to confidently dictate his plan. "Alright then; the objective before us, in this mission, is to graffiti the Monument and not get caught. Although the situation looks hopeless, we have several advantages going into this situation. The biggest advantage we have is that we are aware of our opposition and they aren't aware of us."

At this Kiba and Ino blinked their eyes in unison before motioning for Naruto to continue. "If you pay any real attention to the ninja on guard duty in the village, you will see that they switch patrols at four times during the day. These times being midnight, 6 A.M., Noon, and 6 P.M. It's currently 3:30 P.M. That means that if we take out the guards now in a surprise attack, we would then have two hours and a half 'till guard changes in which to work undisturbed. With Ino placing the weak Genjutsu, we won't have trouble with people from the village as they won't think to check the monument for one."

The plan was starting to make sense to Naruto comrades, but Kiba saw a serious problem with the plan. "Moon fish, are you a complete idiot? Your whole plan revolves around us getting rid of the guards in a sneak attack. They outnumber us and are far more trained then us, we can't beat them without alerting security."

Naruto now had a mischievous grin on his face as he said, "Remember that day Kiba two years ago when you were trying to do a duel hedge with Akamaru?" Kiba started to shiver and Ino started to see red. They both remembered that day. Kiba had tried to hedge both himself and Akamaru at the same time, but he was new hedges and transformed himself and Akamaru into young naked girls. Kiba had never had such a ferocious beat down in his life.

Kiba suddenly got were Naruto was going with this and said, "No way in Hell Naruto! I will not transform into a naked girl to distract the guards. Get Ino to do it Naruto. After all, that is what they spend most of the time teaching the girls." Akamaru jumped off of Kiba's head just before Ino slammed her first strait into the top of Kiba's head. Naruto just shook his head and said, "Ino has to do the Genjutsu because neither of us can. Also, of the two of us, you're the one who was bragging about how well you aced the hedge part of the test while I only scored above average."

Kiba knew that Naruto had backed him into a corner and both of them knew it. Both he and Naruto had a considerable deal of pride, but they would also back up what they boasted about. However this was bad for Kiba as Naruto had basically forced him to do the task or admit to not being as good as he claimed to be, and Kiba just couldn't have that happen. So, grudgingly Kiba agreed to be the one to knock out the guards.

Seeing that his comrades would follow his plan, Naruto said, "Alright then. When Kiba knocks out the guards, I'll tie them up. Then we have Ino cast the Genjutsu. Since she'll be drained form that and I'm the fastest runner, I will be carrying Ino on my back while we paint the monument. This way, if we get caught, Ino won't be left behind."

Naruto stood up and looked firmly into Kiba and Ino's eyes, his strength of will shining so brightly that his friends felt their worries wash away from themselves. Naruto held his hand out in front of him and made a fist. Naruto then said, "Are you willing to risk it all with me? Are you ready to show our sensei and this village as a whole that you're ready be a ninja, or are you going to let this opportunity pass you by? I know that we all have the power and skill needed to pull this off. We have been given all that we need to do this and any other task that we may be given. Will you join me in proving this, or will you let your self-doubt prevent you from reaching our goal?"

Both Ino and Kiba were heavily moved by Naruto's little speech. Ino was starting to see Naruto in a different light, instead of just one of the Average Joes of the class like she had before. Kiba wonder where Naruto kept this side of himself that seemed to inspire everyone so. Kiba got up off his butt and said gruffly with his hands in his coat, "What the hell. I'm in on this crazy plan of yours. Besides, after all of my bragging at home, my sister would have permanent teasing material if I fail this test." Ino shook her head and said, "There's no way I'm going to let Forehead Girl become a ninja simply because I was given a harder test than her."

Naruto looked at both of his friends turned teammates. He had honestly been nervous at even suggesting such a plan but then he remembered a quote attributed to father Minato: 'There are no weak soldiers under a valiant commander'. While he didn't consider himself to be a valiant commander, Naruto hoped that the principle behind the saying would hold true. Seeing that his friends believed that they could pull off his quickly thrown together plan gave Naruto hope that they could pull it off. Not showing his doubt, Naruto raised his first in the and yelled, "Watch out world, cause Team 10 is on the move!" Both Ino and Kiba joined in his shout before they all grabbed a paint can and took off towards the Monument.

In the shadows stood Anko, whose smile was threatening to burst into full blown laughter. It was an open secret in the higher up ranks that each Jonin would test their Gennin team on some concept that they held dear. Kakashi was famous for his emphasis on teamwork and so used the multi-purpose bell test. Her test was very different than the copy-cat's, or even most other Jonins for that matter. Due to growing up during the last shinobi war and having to deal with the betrayal of her teacher, Anko held determination and perseverance in high esteem.

For her test, Anko had constructed a scenario that the gennin would never expect. However, it was a scenario that would often come up in the life of a ninja. Anko had given her three would-be students a seemingly impossible task to perform and very little time in which to pull it off. Then she had just sat back and waited to see their reactions. Kiba's initial reaction had upset Anko, but Naruto had managed to pull the boy out of his defeatist mood.

As Naruto laid out his plains, Anko couldn't help but be impressed with the little prince. Naruto had looked over her scenario like it was a board game and analyzed team 10's opposition. At first she was going to just appear and explain the test to them and tell her team that they passed. However, as Naruto listed all of the variables and broke down the plan to his comrades Anko decided to let them go for it. It would show that arrogant idiot of a council appointed security chief how badly he had let things slipped on internal village security.

Anko looked up at the heavens and let out a sigh before she said, "My friends, you would be so proud of how your son has turned out. Usagi, he has your gentleness and compassion. Minato, he has your commanding will and your tactical mind. When you put those together in your son, you two gave birth to a person can lead armies into the depths of Hell and his soldiers would gladly follow him." She let out a smirk and said, "He also has both of your stubborn streaks. Who else but Naruto would declare that he would make a small unknown clan into the most respected clan on the continent?" Anko then body flickered away to get a good seat for the spectacle the three gennin were planning.

It was the talk of the town for days. Many of the people just could not believe that three gennin would pull such a stunt, or even the fact that they pulled it off in the first place for that matter. Once it was circulated that the gennin did it because it was a test by their sensei Anko Mitarashi, some people were calling for her to be demoted to gennin at least. Luckily for team 10, this was only being called for by a few councilmen who had lost major political capital in this debacle.

After he had stopped rolling on the ground laughing his ass off, Sarutobi had launched a full investigation on the state of security within Konoha. Over several days the security investigation led to some facts that greatly startled Sarutobi to his core. Apparently, his old teammates, Danzo, and a few of the more radical councilmen were funneling resources away from several vital areas of Konoha security. They were using the resources to build up support for what looked like a take-over of Konoha in order to make Konoha more like some of the more militant hidden villages.

Two of the major projects that the conspirators were running were 'Ne' and 'Rei'. 'Ne' was originally a sub-organization within ANBU, but had been re-organized as their private army after he had disbanded the group 22 years ago. 'Rei' was a project that enraged Sarutobi when he thought about what he read about it. Apparently, they were using Orochimaru's notes on human experimentation to create bloodlines and infuse them into ninja loyal to them.

When Sarutobi looked over the photos of the poor souls who were suffering under 'Rei', he thanked Anko for letting team 10 continue to perform the mission she had given them. If it wasn't for them vandalizing the Monument then this travesty would never have been brought to light.

Still it hurt Sarutobi's heart to find out what his friends had been planning to do. They had been his oldest friends and had been with him sense he had become a ninja. It was with a heavy heart that Sarutobi sentenced them and the rest of their co-conspirators to death for treason against Konoha. Unfortunately, on the night before the execution was supposed to take place, the conspirators managed to pull off a successful jail-break. Sarutobi had no idea of where 'The Fallen', as the public was calling the group, had fled to after their escape.

But now that the scandal all was over and the old leader was feeling every day of his age. Sarutobi knew that he needed to do something to cheer himself up, but he didn't know where to look. He no longer had his old friends to fall back on, his wife was long dead, and his only two loyal students were miles away from the village. Sarutobi thought about heading home, but stopped himself.

Asuma was currently in a very foul mood that he had ordered the execution of Asuma's godparents. Even though the two were traitors and Asuma knew that, it didn't change the fact that Sarutobi's teammates had been there more for Asuma when Asuma was growing up than he had been. Sarutobi didn't doubt for a second that Asuma was not just as appalled by their behavior as he was, but it was another widening of the divide between the father and son. When Sarutobi looked back on his past rationalizations of his absences he couldn't help but weep at how flimsy his reasons seemed now in his old age.

Sarutobi got up out of his seat and left the Hokage tower. Slowly he walked through the streets of Konoha, the setting sun at his back creating a remarkable backdrop. With so few friends left alive, there was only one place that Sarutobi knew he could regain his spirit back. Soon enough Sarutobi reached the outskirts of Konoha and came upon the cottage where Naruto and Luna lived. Seeing that there was a light in the window, Sarutobi politely knocked at the door.

The door quickly opened to reveal Luna in her rather attractive human form. Luna smiled at Sarutobi and said, "Hello Sarutobi. Naruto and I were just sitting down to dinner, you can join us if you want as we have plenty and you look famished." A small smile appeared on Sarutobi's face as he said, "A home cooked dinner sounds wonderful right now."

Once Sarutobi was inside of the modest home, he was almost immediately tackled into a hug by Naruto. Luna watched the two interact for a few minutes with a smile on her face. Over the years, Sarutobi had grown into a close friend of hers and Luna respected the old leader for all that he had given up in order to protect his village. But one of the things that she always loved to see was when Sarutobi and Naruto were alone and the two acted like they were just a grandfather and his grandson having a good time together. All the worry and pain that the two carried stoically all day just seemed to disappear.

Dinner was a relatively quiet and plan affair. Although Luna could get acceptable deals from the merchants in town, she still had to really watch the budget and was thankful that Naruto had been given a license on his 10th birthday to be allowed to hunt in the forests outside the village. Currently they were having some rice and vegetables with bits of rabbit that Naruto had caught yesterday mixed in.

Once everyone had finished eating dinner, the three of them sat around the table and enjoyed some small talk. Sarutobi was proud to find out that Naruto had learned the shadow clone explosion jutsu. However, Naruto was still upset that he wasn't good enough with the technique to use it in a spar or an actual battle. Sarutobi told Naruto that he was surprised that Naruto had become that skilled in the jutsus that he had given Naruto. Naruto had the decency to blush.

Sarutobi was contemplating about leaving the happy little family alone for the rest of the night we Naruto pulled out his 'puppy eyes jutsu' and roped Luna and Sarutobi into playing a strategy game. For the next two hours by the fire everyone sat around and played the game of Naruto's choice. Finally it was time for Naruto to go to bed. Naruto was initially hesitant to go to bed, but when Sarutobi mentioned that someone's team was looking at a C-ranked mission in the morning, Naruto rushed off to get some sleep.

Once Naruto was upstairs Luna said, "How are you handling that situation Sarutobi?" Sarutobi just sighed and said, "I'm handling it one day at a time. Thank you for letting me join you two this evening, spending time with Naruto always cheers me up." Luna had a far away look in her eyes as she said, "Yes, Naruto does have that effect on people. His brain he got from his father, his heart he got from his mother."

Sarutobi then nodded his head and then stroked his chin as he said, "That he does, that he does Luna." Sarutobi and Luna sat in silence for a minute before Sarutobi asked, "Luna, do you remember my question the other day? You never told me the answer." Luna twitted her paws nervously and said, "What you were asking about is HIGHLY unusual. While there may not have been any laws against it in the Silver Millennium; and it did happen at times in the history of the Japanese, It wasn't something that happened a lot." At this Sarutobi smirked and said, "But it did happen, didn't it Luna." Her drooping head was all the proof that Sarutobi needed.

Sarutobi then said, "Don't worry Luna, everything will be fine. Never forget that I have Naruto's best interests at heart. While my plan may be slightly offensive to you, you have to admit that it does help Naruto with no one getting hurt." Luna was forced to agree to Sarutobi's point in that regard, but she didn't have to like the plan to know it was a good one. Sarutobi then said good bye to the black cat and left to go home.

Author's notes: so the plot thickens. What is Naruto's new C-class mission? Will the Scouts find Naruto? What is this plan of Sarutobi's that has Luna so annoyed? Stick around and you'll soon find out. Please note that the poll is still going and I appreciate your input.

Omake:

Naruto and Mamoru are sitting back stage at Anime Studies in the men's locker rooms.

Naruto: hey Mamoru

Mamoru: yes Naruto?

Naruto: do you know the difference between us?

Mamoru: What Naruto?

Naruto's currently wearing a black suit and tie and then pulls out a pair of sunglasses and puts them on his face.

Naruto: the difference between you and me is that I make this look good.


	4. Chapter 4

Mother Moon Section 4

Author's notes: I thought that I would let my readers know a general idea of where I'm taking this story. I have conceived of a story with a great arc of building darkness, clash between good and evil, and the after effects that the good side has to deal with once the main bad guy is taken care of. Currently were at the stage where the darkness is hidden but building strength. Also, in this chapter a major ally for Naruto will be unveiled. I will not tell you who it is now, but he's a character from another series that has been 'fused' into this story. I hope the fans of the series he comes from aren't offended at the back story I've set for the new ally. Oh, and if anyone wants to know how Naruto is dressed when he's not powered up, he's wearing an outfit like he does after the time skip but with a darker orange. Without further ado, let's start the story.

Team 10, which had picked up the nickname of Team Maelstrom, was standing in the Hokage's Tower at the mission distribution office. Currently Iruka was giving out missions and smiled when he saw Naruto and his team approach. With a cheerful voice Iruka said, "Hey there Naruto, Ino, Kiba, here to pick up a new mission?" The three gennin in question just nodded their heads at their former teacher. Iruka pulled out a pile of missions and said, "Well let's see, we have walking the Inuzuka's dogs, theirs some fences that need to be mend-"

At this point Naruto cut off Iruka and said in a collected, but annoyed tone, "Iruka we've done 16 D-ranked missions. We've earned the right for a C-ranked mission; so would you please be so kind as to get out the C-ranked mission folder?" At this very moment Sarutobi walked through the door and said, "Very true Naruto, Very true." Sarutobi turned to face Iruka and said, "Would you please get the C-rank mission folder out for Team Maelstrom?"

Iruka was no fool and knew that, although it was phrased like a question, the Hokage's question was an order. Iruka put the D-ranked mission file away and reached for the other mission file. Quickly scanning over the missions available that were listed, Iruka smiled and said, "Alright guys, there's a merchant in Konoha that is traveling to a town on the eastern boarder of Fire Country who is looking for some ninja protection. He doesn't except much more than a few bandits as he's only carrying furs, wood, and a few other odds and ends, but wants to protection to make sure that his goods arrive safely and on time. Do you accept the mission?"

Naruto looked at his two teammates to see what they had thought about the mission. Ever since their first mission that Anko had given them, Naruto had become the unofficial leader of the gennin in Team 10. On seeing that Kiba and Ino wanted to take the mission Naruto turned to Iruka and said, "On behalf of team 10, I accept this mission." Iruka only sent a quick glance towards Anko, only to see her with a smirk on her face showing her approval, before he handed the mission scroll over to Naruto.

Naruto opened the scroll and quickly scanned the full briefing of the mission. Turning to face his teammates Naruto said in a voice that reminded Sarutobi of Naruto's father, "Ino, Kiba, this looks like a minimum of a minimum of a two week mission. Go home and get your long term mission packs, the ones that have the seal scrolls with most of your gear that we got a week ago. Go to your parents, tell them that you will be away on a mission for a while, and request at least one new technique scroll that you can practice the technique during the quiet parts of the mission. You will meet me in two hours at the main Eastern gate of Konoha where I will be with our client."

Naruto at this point gave his friends a smile before he turned around and walked out the door to take care of a few things he needed to do before the mission started. Ino and Kiba looked at each other for a second before they both nodded their heads at the same time and turned to leave. Iruka was staring at where the Gennin of team 10 had been in shock before he turned to Anko and said, "What are you teaching those kids? They were acting like professional Jonin!"

At this Anko said, "Their very unique kids and actually I haven't had to teach them a whole lot. Mostly it's just been helping them see where their weaknesses are, and they just take care of the rest." Anko pulled out a Dango stick and at one of the Dango before continuing to talk. "As for their command structure, well that's something that developed naturally. Naruto seems to have a, I guess presence would describe it, about him that makes his want to listen to what he has to say. Combine this presence with the boy's very developed tactical mind and caring heart, and you have a leader that Ino and Kiba would gladly follow into Hell.

Sarutobi just nodded his head when he heard Anko describe it all to him. Minato had such a presence about him at well. It would make sense that Minato's son Naruto would have inherited that same presence as well. Also Usagi, may the gods rest her dear sweet soul, radiated a sense of respect and caring about her that seemed to have been inherited by Naruto as well. All and all, Naruto was shaping up to be what looked like a legendary figure. Sarutobi wouldn't be surprised if the boy had surpassed his father in greatness by Naruto's 18th birthday.

When Team 10 met up at the specified gate of Konoha, they saw Naruto having a friendly chat with their client in front of an overloaded wagon. They learned that their client's name was Ryoga Yagnasaki. Ryoga was quite glad to meet with his guards and said, "Thank you for agreeing to accept my mission. I know that the kinds of goods I trade in don't fetch a large profit on the black market, but with the way some of the bandit groups are going lately you never know."

At this Anko just smirked and said, "Don't worry about a thing. These kids can handle any bandits that might think you're a good target. If by some chance they can't handle the bandits I'm here." Ryoga just smiled and said, "That's good to know. Now how about we get going? One of you can sit next to me on the wagon and another on the back of the wagon if they don't mind sitting on wood planks. I'll be going at a slow pace so as to not exhaust my oxen, so if what I know about you ninja is correct, the other two of you can walk next to the cart at a comfortable pace." With that said, Team 10 and there client left Konoha.

"What the Hell is with these bandits? This the third raid against us since we left Konoha four days ago!" Kiba yelled before he and Akamaru preformed a Fang over Fang attack on a nameless masked bandit. Kiba was understandably annoyed because ever since they were a day out from Konoha; they had been attacked by bandits every day. Kiba was the first to admit that he liked a good brawl, but this was getting to be too much for him.

Suddenly Kiba heard Naruto call from above him, "Kiba, 4 bandits approaching from 6:30, take care of them." Kiba didn't bother to grunt a response knowing that the one giving him the directions was only a shadow clone. Where Naruto had learned that trick, Kiba didn't know but was extremely grateful. Ever since that first attack, Naruto had at least one shadow clone sitting of the roof of the wagon at all times to act as a lookout. Now, the clone was firing off information to the rest of the team as Naruto and Anko were handling the main body of the bandit a hundred feet away from the wagon.

Ino, who was standing next to Ryoga at the driver's bench of the wagon, was busy deflecting various projectiles that were aimed at the scared Merchant. Muttering to herself, Ino said, "What is with these bandits? We're only carrying deer furs, wood, and a few gardening supplies for crying out loud!" Ino then called to the three Naruto clones that were protecting the oxen, "Hey! I need one of you guys to dispel your self and tell Naruto that we need to capture one of these suckers alive. We need to know why were being attacked like this."

One of the Naruto clones nodded his head and promptly did as Ino had requested. Naruto, who was standing back to back with Anko, felt the clone's knowledge of Ino's request pop into his brain. Without turning to face Anko Naruto called out, "Ino wants us to capture one of the bandits alive in order for us to question the bandit on why we're being attacked." Anko shot back, "Sounds like that girl's got a good plan. It's getting boring just hacking these fools without knowing why their going after us." With that Anko and Naruto got to work making mince meat of the bandits.

Ten minutes later, Team 10 where standing around their single bound captive, the first out of 200 bandits on this mission that they had left alive. Ryoga was currently setting up a small fire and was cooking dinner for him and his guards. The middle aged man said that, although he knew that the interrogation would be needed, he just couldn't stomach to see it happen. Anko, not wanting her students to have to dirty their hands with interrogation just yet, was getting ready to find out the answers to her question.

Anko woke up the bandit with a crack of a whip she always kept on hand, never knowing when she would want to use it next. The bandit looked up at the smirking Anko and started to quiver in fear. Using a tone that was guarantied to scare the bandit even more, Anko while grinning said, "Okay pond scum; welcome to the school of Hard Knocks, the class is remedial Pain 101 and I'll be your teacher for the day. Here's how the lesion will go, I'll be asking you some questions. If you don't answer correctly you'll be given a penalty exam. Just so that you know, the first penalty exam will be to see how well you deal with losing your dick."

At that last comment, Ino blushed and the boys of team 10 crossed their legs in sympathy pain. One thing about Anko that they had learned early on was that Anko didn't know the meaning of the word restrain. Anko however was smirking. Her little threat towards a certain part of the bandit's anatomy had made the fool pay extra attention to her questions and would assure her that he answered all of their questions.

Anko then decided to start off the integration questions. "Alright then, why did you attack us? You bandits wouldn't normally go after a small convoy like us, especially considering the fact that it had an escort and was known to not have anything of great value." At this the bandit swallowed a gulp and answered the grinning madwoman in front of him. "I don't know the specifics of it all, but earlier today a man came into our camp and paid our boss to capture this convoy for him."

This news got Anko's attention. Apparently there was someone targeting the convoy, but why? Anko's eyes narrowed as she almost hissed out with her voice laced in killing intent, "Describe the man who paid your leader. If you don't tell me everything about this man, I won't just stop with the first penalty exam!" The poor bandit was reduced to a blubbering mass as he said, "I didn't get a good look at his face, but I know that he was bald. He was wearing a clock that seemed to be a patchwork of browns and greens. He came in and left on this very large lizard that he made appear from no where."

Team 10 watched as their sensei's eyes widen in shock and what looked like fear for a second before she cleaved the bandit's head off. Anko then turned to face her teammates and with urgency in her voice shouted out at them. "Don't just stand there! Search every nook and cranny of the wagon and report anything, and I mean ANYTHING, no matter how small or insignificant that you don't recognize as being produced in Konoha. I've got to go talk to our client."

Team 10 were confused at their sensei's actions but still obeyed. Opening up the wagon's canvass covering, Ino and Naruto walked inside while Kiba was checking around the outside of the wagon for any hidden compartments. A minute or so latter Ino called out, "Hey! I've found something that meets Anko's description. Ino reached into a side compartment of the wagon and pulled out a potted plant with strange patterns on its leaves.

Ino carefully carried out the plant and headed over to Anko with Naruto and Kiba following her. Anko saw Ino approach and her eyes were fixated on the plant her student was carrying. Turning to face their client Anko said in a voice that could freeze a person's blood, "Where did you get that plant?!" At this Ryoga, who was quite confused and nervous at seeing Anko like she was, said, "I was traveling through the land between the Land of the Waterfall and the Land of Rice when I spotted that plant growing. I'm an amateur botanist and was fascinated by the plant as I've never heard of a plant with leaves like it. I put it in that pot that your student found."

At hearing this, Anko smacked her head and said, "Great, just great. That plant happens to be a G'Quan-Eth plant, which is of great significance to the Narn Clan." At this Ino blinked her eyes and said, "Ah Anko who are the Narn? I've never heard of that Clan when my father was talking about the powerful clans of the various Hidden Villages. Why does the thought of them seem to have you so nervous?" Naruto and Kiba both nodded their heads wanting to know who the Narn were and what was making their teacher so nervous as well.

Anko motioned for her students to sit down and she began to lecture them. "Okay kids, listen up. Despite what most of the villagers talk about around you kids, there are powerful Clans of ninja who aren't affiliated with any village. The Narn are one of these Clans that aren't aligned to any Ninja village. The Narn are a little different then most unafilated clans in that they've built, well I guess you could call it a monastery for themselves in the area that our client here ventured through. That plant he took is sacred to the Narn Clan. It is in fact so sacred to the Narn that for an outsider to take the plant without the approval of one of the Kha'Ri, which is what the Narn call their counsel of Elders, is to be met with the death of the offender."

At this everyone looked at Anko with worry in their eyes. Ryoga was shaking in fear as he said, "I didn't know. I swear I didn't know that this would happen when I took that plant. It was just growing in the wild; I didn't know that something like this would happen." Ino was getting slightly scared at what Anko had told them and wanted to know something. "Anko, is there any way we could just give back the G'Quan-Eth plant to whoever the Narn is that is attacking us?"

Anko shook her head and said, "It's not that simple. You see, the G'Quan-Eth plant was taken and thus by the Narn beliefs it has been defiled. In order to get the Narn off our backs about the plant, one of us would have to fight and beat the pursuing Narn in fair one-on-one combat. If that person beat the Narn then, I don't know the exact circumstances behind it, the Narn would 'purify' the plant, take it back with them, and declare that the victor would be an ally of the Narn Clan."

"The problem is that we can only issue a challenge for combat once. If we violate the one-on-one combat or if our champion fails to win, then we forfeit our lives. If we were to resist this forfeiture, then the Narn would declare a blood-feud on all of our blood relatives. To make matters worse, the Narn have a bloodline limit that makes them able to summon all reptiles summons fully under their command with extremely little Chakra needed; even Manda, the Snake boss summon, would be forced to obey a Narn who summoned him no matter how much he would hate it. Also, if someone else was to summon a reptile, the Summon would be under the Narn's control and not the summoner."

Naruto could see the problem with the Narn being after them. Anko was a great fighter, but almost all of her high level attacks required the use of her snake summons. Against someone with the Narn's bloodline, Anko would be almost on the same level as Ino and Kiba. But what were they to do? This Narn would follow and continue to attack them until the G'Quan-Eth plant had been reclaimed, and the only way to do that was to beat them in combat. The only solution appeared in Naruto's mind.

With firm eyes Naruto said, "I'll be the one. I'm the only one who has a chance of beating this Narn in combat." At this Kiba and Ino looked at Naruto as if he was mad. Anko looked into Naruto's eyes and quickly figured out Naruto's train of thought. Cursing loudly Anko said, "Damn it kid, you just had to be right about that! As much as I hate it, Naruto fighting our attacker is the best chance of victory we have." While Ino and Kiba were looking on in confusion, no one noticed a small garden snake slither away from camp.

G'Kar Narn was sitting in his own camp with one of his snake summon spies came up to him and whispered in his ear. After the summon had dispelled itself, G'Kar sat on a log deep in thought. So ninja guarding the criminal hadn't known about the man's sacrilege. Apparently the young blond boy with whiskered checks was willing to fight him in order to save the defiler. Commendable bravery, but bravery wouldn't save this foolish youth from a Kha'Ri like himself. Still, there was something about the description of the boy that gnawed in the back of G'Kar's mind.

G'Kar was, however, willing to give the foolish youth his request. Besides, using those bandits had been distasteful to a warrior like G'Kar. G'Kar then summoned one of the older of the snake boss's children and rode on its head towards the other camp. As G'Kar approached the other camp he was pleased to see the boy who had talked about challenging him already facing him with determination burning in his eyes. At the very least, the boy was a warrior even if he was young.

G'Kar shouted out, "I am G'Kar Narn member of the Kha'Ri, who spoke of challenging me for the G'Quan-eth plant?" The blond boy in front of him spoke out, "My name is Naruto Tuskino and I issued the challenge." The name the boy had spoken shocked G'Kar who muttered in his mind "Maelstrom of the Moon? But that is the name of the-" G'Kar stopped that line of thought. The boy in front of him couldn't have been the one, and now he would kill him for daring to bare that name.

With fury in his voice G'Kar shouted out, "Prepare to die!" G'Kar then rapidly preformed a set of hand seals before shouting out, "Summon Mimicry Art: Art of the Frog Oil fire!" A large stream of oil came shooting out of G'Kar's mouth, which G'Kar promptly set on fire with some Chakra from his thumb. Naruto dashed out of the way and retaliated with a Shadow Clone Kunai jutsu. G'Kar summoned a metal staff from a seal on his wrist guards and used the staff to deflect the Kunai.

Once the storm of Kunai was over, G'Kar look from his perch on top of the snake to see that he was surrounded by a ring of Naruto's. G'Kar felt a smile cross his lips as he looked on the sight, this was going to be a great fight. G'Kar then noticed all of the Naruto clones start rushing towards him and then whispered out in shock, "Don't tell me that he knows that attack?" G'Kar then jumped off of the summon in order to not be caught in the explosion created by all of the clones.

G'Kar landed on his knees wiped away some blood from his lips. Turning to face Naruto who was look at him with determination in his eyes, G'Kar growled out. "Very good brat, your no ordinary boy I grant you that. However, its time that the kiddy gloves come off" and with that G'Kar started to power up. Anko shouted out to Naruto, "Watch out kid, he's putting out the power of a Sannin!"

Naruto had felt G'Kar power up and didn't need Anko to tell him the obvious. This G'Kar guy, even though he looked like a walking reptile man, was good. That last attack that Naruto had pulled off had used up about half of his remaining reserves that he had recovered since the bandits attacked. From how things looked, it was obvious that G'Kar had the upper hand and both of them knew it.

However, one common saying in the Ninja world is 'never expect things to be the way they look at first glance'. Naruto smirked and shouted out, "You may think that your winning lizard breath, but I haven't brought out the power of my bloodline limit!" On the sidelines Kiba and Ino looked at each other and Kiba asked, "Has Naruto's mind finally cracked?" Ino answered him in an unsure voice, "Who knows. I've never heard of the Tuskino family, so it's possible that Naruto does have a bloodline. But what kind of a bloodline is it that would allow Naruto to believe he could equal someone on Sannin level?"

As if in answer to Ino's question, Naruto raised his fist into the air and shouted out, "Moon Crystal Armor, Energize!" Naruto was then covered in a pillar of white light. When the pillar of light receded, the Moonlight Knight was standing there with his arms folded across his chest and his cape billowing in the breeze. Naruto, or rather the Moonlight Knight, shouted out at G'Kar, "Shall we now commence with round two?"

G'Kar just stood there looking at Naruto in shock. Anko heard the Narn warrior gasp out, "I-it c-can't be, w-why did the a-auguries not mention that you had b-been born!" At this, Naruto got confused and annoyed. What was this reptile man spouting out about his birth being mention? Naruto got fed up with G'Kar not attacking and cried out, "Hey Reptile man! Are we going to get back to the fight or do you have a prior engagement?"

G'Kar was however lost in thought and inside of him a struggle raged. "How dare he insult me so? Why weren't we told about his birth happening? Have we been compromised by the ancient enemy? How long has it been preparing that we didn't know about? This is far more important than the G'Quan-eth" G'Kar closed his eyes as he reached a decision.

G'Kar then opened his eyes and called out to Naruto, "Consider the G'Quan-eth purified young storm. But beware; the tendrils of a great darkness are stretching out to consume the land. Grow strong, young storm for you are the one that will be the light in the coming night of darkness." G'Kar then body flickered away leaving a confused Naruto behind.

Naruto then turned around to look at his teammates to see if they understood what G'Kar was talking about. It took only one glance at his teammates to see that they were as confused about the sudden turn of events as he was. Naruto and his teammates just stood there looking back and forth at each other for a few minutes. Suddenly Ino said, "Ah Naruto, why are you dressed like that?" Naruto looked at the determined gleam in Ino's eye and hope that he would manage to retain some secrets from her when the night was over.

Sailor-verse:

Setsuna Meioh was smirking and almost dancing for joy. That last burst of Lunarian Royal energy had allowed her to pinpoint where the princess was at. Even though the energy was rapidly fading, Setsuna could now lock onto that dimension with just a thought. Not wanting to waste any time, Setsuna transported herself over to the Tuskino family household where all the Scouts, the remaining Tuskino family, and Artemis had conveniently gathered together.

Ikuko Tuskino was currently sipping some tea trying not to cry at the thought of her missing daughter. It had come as a shock to her and the rest of her family to learn that her sweet little Usagi had been fighting to protect the city from various monsters. Learning that her daughter was a reincarnated princess and that her closet friends had been her daughter's court was still a shock to the mild housewife. She could see that each and every one of her daughter's friends wanted to be the one missing instead of Usagi, and the thought that her daughter could develop such good friends made her smile.

Ikuko looked up to see a flash of light appear in the center of the family room and Sailor Pluto appearing out of the light. Setsuna was smiling and said in a pleasant tone, "I've found where the princess is." At this, everyone who knew about Usagi and the real reason why she was missing came crawling out of the woodworks.

After everyone was seated down Setsuna said, "As you all know, during the death of Pharaoh 90 the princess was flung through a hole in space/time. I've just been able to detect bursts of Royal Lunarian energy coming from a single point in one dimension. That means that we can go and bring the princess back home." Everyone let out a cheer of happiness at the news.

Setsuna calmed them all down and said, "However, there are a few bumps in the road to be taken care of before we can bring the princess back with us. I know the general area at that time/space location that the energy is coming from, but until we get to that dimension I can't pin it down to a location smaller than China. Also, the only way currently available to us to travel between dimensions will leave those who go to get the princess stranded there for at least a month while the method resets. To make it worse, I won't be able to tell the conditions of the world besides the fact that it's habitable until we make it to the other side."

Rei then spoke up, "So you're saying that whoever goes there will be going in blind and without any backup for at least a month?" Setsuna just nodded her head and said, "That's exactly what I'm saying. However, I do have a way for those who go to communicate with those who stay behind to protect Earth. I will be going as I am the only one who knows how to perform the transportation. Who will be going with me to find the princess?"

Author's notes: So what do you think? What is this ancient enemy that G'Kar spoke of? (No it's not the Shadows for any of you B5 fans, G'Kar and the Narn are the limit of the fusion with Babylon 5 and as you can see I've tweaked them a good deal.) Who is going with Setsuna? What will the Scouts think when they met Naruto? Stick around to find out. HistorianoftheKais


	5. Chapter 5

Mother Moon Section 5

Well here we go then for another section of Mother Moon. Just so you know; the poll is closed and I have taken into consideration everyone's opinions but have made up my own mind as to who Naruto will be romantically paired with: Ino Yamanaka, Ami Mizuno, Makoto Kino, and Temari. For those of you who didn't get the particular girl you wanted matched up with Naruto, please don't complain as it was hard to make the cut for me. I now have two smaller polls going on: Should Setsuna be paired with Kakashi, G'Kar, or someone else and should Hotaru be paired with Shino, Gaara, or someone else? Also, even though those four I mentioned are the pairings with Naruto, should I have Naruto have a one night deal with any of the other senshi to give them an heir? Just so you know, THERE WILL BE NO SEX SCENES IN MY STORY! I don't mind a fade to black setup and will probably use it, but no explicit sex will be portrait in my works. This is just an idea that popped in my head and I would like some feedback on it. Enough of that and on with the story

Sailor-verse

Everyone in the room thought about what Setsuna had just told them. They could go find Usagi, but it was a gamble. They would be gone for at least a month and had no real idea of how things were in the word that Usagi had gone to after the battle. Makoto was the first to speak up and said, "I'll go. I've got no relatives at home to worry about and I owe Usagi too much to just stand here when I could have helped."

Inside her mind Ami debated for a bit before coming to a conclusion and spoke up. "I'll go as well. I'll have to tell my mother, but it's worth it to go find Usagi." Rei then voiced her mind. "I'd like to go, but my father is having me go with him on an ambassadorial tour of Europe. There's no way I'm going to let him find out about the Scouts." Minako glumly looked down at her lap and said, "My parents are taking a vacation in China and have decided that we're going as a family. They just wouldn't understand me disappearing for a month or more."

Hakura looked at Michiru for a moment before nodding her head and saying. "I speak for both Michiru and I when I say that we're staying her. Someone needs to protect Earth and that has been the Outers' traditional duty." Hotaru, who had been as quiet as a church mouse, then spoke up. "I'll go with you to find Usagi." Hotaru had been having a difficult time at the loss of Chibi-Usa and her father. She had been staying with the Tsukino's and wanted to repay them for their kindness.

Setsuna thought that it was interesting that half of both the Inners and Outers would be going to retrieve the princess. Setsuna's thoughts were interrupted when Ikuko coughed and said, "If it's all right, I would like to come along as well." Setsuna raised an eyebrow at this because she thought it was strange that the meek housewife would want to go off into the unknown. "You do realize the dangers Mrs. Tsukino." Setsuna said in a matter of fact tone. Ikuko just turned to look Setsuna in the eye and said a firm voice that brooked no argument, "Usagi is my daughter; I'm going with you."

Setsuna knew that the discussion was closed and said. "That's fine with me. I just wanted to make sure you understood what was going on." Setsuna then turned to face the people who were going and said, "Pack what you need. Make sure that what you pack clothing that is durable and functional. You should also bring a book or two in order to keep from being board. We will all meet back here at 8:00 A.M. I will then transport us all to the Pluto Royal Palace where I shall then transfer us to the dimension where the princess is." Everyone nodded their heads showing that they understood Setsuna's directions before leaving to take care of things.

Naruto-verse

Naruto was sitting in a field right outside his and Luna's cottage thinking about how Team 10's last mission had gone. Ino and Kiba had taken the news that his mother was a reincarnated princess and that it was from her that he derived his 'bloodline'. Naruto was happy that he was able to get away with just revealing that much of himself to them. Don't get Naruto wrong, he cared for and respected each of his teammates a great deal. However, he wasn't sure if they could handle all of his secrets at once with their current level of maturity. When it was all said and done, Team 10 was closer after the talk then they had been before the mission started.

After they had escorted Ryoga to his destination, Ryoga gave them a large bonus. When Ino had asked why he had done that, Ryoga answered. "I endangered you and put you in a situation where you shouldn't have been due to me taking that plant and you stuck with me. Your bravery and hard work deserve to be rewarded." Naruto didn't say anything but his respect for the merchant grew. All too often there were people who would try and weasel out of paying ninja all of the money that a job was priced at.

Naurto's mind left the mission and focused on what had happened when they had gotten back to Konoha. Once Team 10 had given their mission report to the Hokage and was turning to leave, Sarutobi had asked Naruto to stay behind a minute. Sarutobi had then told Naruto, and Naruto focused in really hard at what Sarutobi had told him.

"Naruto, I've managed to get all of the Namikaze properties and assets transferred over to the Tsukino Clan. The Tsukino Clan, as under the Clan reorganization law in all elemental countries, is as of this moment the legal successor to the Namikaze Clan holding all rights, privileges, and responsibilities of the previous clan. You Naruto are now the legal head of the Tsukino Clan. Even if due to weird circumstances an elder relative of your late mother were to appear, you would be the clan head and to the hypothetical person."

It was a lot of responsibility that came with being a clan head, even more so for a 'noble' clan head like Naruto now was due to a law that was passed stating that the family of a Hokage automatically became a noble clan. He would be expected to manage clan finances and attend Council meetings. Naruto would also be expected to show up at important functions. Luckily for Naruto, he could use the common practice of a proxy stand-in and have Luna go to the meetings for him and she could help him with the finances.

The thing that had Naruto uncomfortable was his potential marriage status. As a 'small' clan with less then 50 members, it was socially expected that Naruto would take a few concubines in addition to a wife in order to make sure that the clan didn't die out. Also with his bloodline, which he had decided would be officially known as 'Tsukisenshi' or 'Moon Warrior', it would be expected even more for him to have several children with several different women.

The major crux of the problem with having multiple wives, and Naruto intended to have the girls as his brides instead of just leaving them with the second-class rank of concubine, was the women in question. Naruto wanted a woman that he married to have a strong will, to genuinely like him, able to think for herself, and be willing and to able to defend herself should she be attacked. However, Naruto figured that the kind of woman he liked would never want to share him even if pressure was put on by the Council.

Naruto didn't have any illusions that he would stay hated by the Council all of his life. Naruto also figured that he would never be loved by the Council as well. However, once the council found out about his bloodline and the fact that it had allowed him to destroy the Kyuubi, Naruto figured that they would want to see it continue and expand. At that point, his being the son of the Yondaime would just be extra icing on the cake for the greedy council members. Having it known throughout the Elemental Countries that Konoha possessed such a strong bloodline like the Moon Warrior bloodline would increase the number of clients that Konoha received.

Knowing these facts, Naruto focused his resolve on the kinds of women he would marry. Naruto had seen the kinds of girls that chased after Sasuke and realized that he would probably have girls like that after him as well once the situation was known to the public at large. Those fan girls were NOT the kinds of women that Naruto wanted to have and raise his children with. If he couldn't find a decent wife or two in Konoha, Naruto determined to look elsewhere in another village.

Sailor-verse

Setsuna and her fellow dimensional travelers appeared in the middle of the Pluto Royal Palace's greeting hall. The hall was different then most of the architecture of the Silver Millennium due to the fact that the hall and the palace's style was similar to the Gothic style, instead of the Greco-Roman style that most of the Silver Millennium used. Setsuna motioned for her fellow travelers to follow her with their suitcases and started talking as they walked, "I'm sure you're all surprised at the architecture of the palace. It was constructed under my ancestor King Rhadamanthus who said that he wanted the palace to be 'a unique building fitting for the unique status that the Pluto royal family has protectors of the Time Gates'. To be honest, the palace and its unique architecture was the biggest source of trade for Pluto due to tourists."

Setsuna lead the group outside the main Palace building and into the open palace complex. All of her guests were awed to see that they were in the open air and could hardly believe that they were actually on Pluto. Setsuna gave her 'guests' a minute to just take in the view before saying with a raised eyebrow, "I believe that we have an appointment to keep."

Setsuna led the group into the building that contained the doorway to the Time Gates. She then led them to the chamber of the Time Gates. After making sure that the door was locked and everyone had what they needed, Setsuna placed her time staff into a grove in the center of the floor and started chanting. "Ο Λόρδος OH των πυλών, μας καθοδηγεί καθώς διασχίζουμε αυτούς τους επίβουλους δρόμους μεταξύ αυτού του ταπεινού κόσμου που στεκόμαστε επάνω τώρα και εκείνος ο κόσμος για τον οποίο επιθυμούμε να πάμε. Δεχτείτε αυτήν την ταπεινή προσφορά της δύναμης έτσι ώστε εσείς δύναμη να μην είστε 0 και να εμποδίσετε το ταξίδι μας. Μας χορηγήστε την ευλογία σας και επιτρέψτε σε μας για να περάσετε μεταξύ!"

(Oh Lord of Gates, Guide us as we cross these treacherous roads in between this humble world we stand on now and that world for which we desire to go. Accept this humble offering of power so that you might not be angry and impede our journey. Grant us your blessing and allow us to pass between!) The floor of the chamber became covered in glowing green glyphs. Then the Door of the Time Gates glowed with a strange dark green energy. Suddenly a bright flash of light blinded all within the room causing them to loose consciousness.

Naruto-verse

Luna was currently taking a good look around the cottage that had been her and Naruto's home for so long. Soon, at the latest by the end of the Chunin exams, she and Naruto will have relocated to the former Namikaze, now Tsukino, clan house. Now don't get Luna wrong, she had nothing against the clan house. However, this small cottage had been where Naruto's first steeps had been, where she had heard his first words of 'untie Una', and so many more precious memories were held. She had to fight back a tear when she had learned that Sarutobi had graciously handed the deed to the cottage over Tsukino Clan.

Still, however much Luna loved the old cottage, she knew that necessity required Naruto to soon move into the larger Clan house. As a Noble Clan, it would be an insult to the village for the Tsukino Clan to be resided in a cottage instead of an ancestral estate. Also, the cottage would be big enough to hold her, Naruto, and Naruto's future wives. Wives, the word left a sour taste in Luna's mouth. Being born and raised in an egalitarian/mild matriarchal society, Luna saw the idea of multiple women sharing the same man to be, well, wrong. Sure, situations like this did occasionally arise during the Silver Millennium (what do you expect with a population of 600 billion). However, those were rare cases and people tried to keep such incidences hushed up.

While Luna didn't like the idea of polygamy, especially for her precious Naruto, she had grudgingly given the plan her full support. As much as it pained Luna to admit it, this was not the Silver Millennium where people measured their life spans in centuries. The old way of having one or two children for the noble families just wasn't smart in the world now. The Lunar Royal family had come too close to extinction for Luna's comfort and the multiple wives would definitely ensure the survival of Naruto's family. Besides, she was proud that Naruto was at least thinking about finding good healthy strong girls to marry and wasn't using this as an excuse to fool around like a good deal of his classmates would have.

Luna was brought out of her thoughts by a flash of light to her right. Turning around Luna saw to her shock Sailor Pluto standing in her kitchen. Overcoming her shock, Luna cried out, "Sailor Pluto! When did you get here?" Setsuna raised an eyebrow and said, "Why are you so shocked Luna? Surely you figured that it would only take a month or two for us to find you and the princess even though you were flung into a different dimension?"

Before Luna could respond, Naruto came charging into the house with a kunai drawn. Naruto positioned himself in between Luna and Setsuna with a threatening growl on his face. In a rather annoyed voice Naruto said, "Who are you and what are you doing in my and my Aunt Luna's house! Don't you dare claim that Auntie Luna invited you in, because there's only one door in the house and I know you didn't come through the door."

Setsuna was shocked to see a boy about the scouts' age jump in front of her and threaten her. All of this, because the boy thought that she was threatening Luna. But why did the boy refer to Luna as 'Aunt Luna'? Also, why was their something in the boy's eyes that seemed so familiar to Setsuna? Setsuna was determined to find out the answer to this and decided start asking questions. "What is your name boy, I mean no threat to your aunt. If I truly meant harm to her, you wouldn't be around anymore." Naruto's eyes narrowed as he said, "Don't take me so lightly intruder. I may only be a genin, but you'll find that you will regret messing with me or anyone I hold precious. I'm Naruto Tsukino, and anyone who threatens my family will wish they were never born!"

Setsuna's face paled with shock when she heard Naruto stated his name. It couldn't be; Setsuna's mind clamed even though her heart was telling her it was true. Setsuna tried to dispel the thoughts that were bubbling in the back of her brain by glancing at Naruto's face. Looking into Naruto's eyes Setsuna could see Usagi looking back at her through them. Setsuna's mind overloaded as the implications of what she had heard and seen. This caused her to do the only thing she could, she fainted onto the floor.

Setsuna slowly awoke to find that she was lying on a soft bed with a patchwork quilt covering her. Setsuna turned her head to find herself looking into the eyes of a worried Luna in cat form. Putting her hand on her head, Setsuna groggily said, "Luna, What in the Goddess's name is going on?" Luna closed her eyes for a moment before saying, "Why don't you follow me downstairs Sailor Pluto, things aren't as you seem to think they are." Luna then got off the bed and lead Setsuna downstairs.

When the two ladies came downstairs, Luna led Setsuna over to the dinner table where Sarutobi was calmly smoking his pipe. Luna sat down on the table and, with a paw motioning to Sarutobi, introduced her two guests. "Sailor Pluto, this is Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage and leader of this village. Sarutobi, this is Setsuna, Sailor Pluto and the protector of the Time Gates." Setsuna gave Sarutobi a curt nod, which Sarutobi responded to, before she sat down at the table.

Luna turned to face Setsuna and said, "Don't worry about having to hide anything from the Hokage, his is one of the most trustworthy persons in the village and was one of Usagi's confidants." Setsuna's face showed her confusion and fear at Luna's use of the past tense. However, before Setsuna could voice a question, Luna held up a paw and said, "Before you say anything, I think you need to know the situation here. You say that you were looking for me and the princess for a month correct?" Setsuna nodded her head, not liking what her gut was telling her.

Luna took a deep breath before she started to tell her tale to Setsuna, "Sailor Pluto, Usagi and I arrived here in this world about 18 years ago. We were found by a team of ninja and taken here to the village of Konoha. A while after that Usagi fell in love with Minato Namikaze, the leader of the team that found us. They were married about 16 years ago in an absolutely breath taking beautiful ceremony. Soon after the wedding Minato had risen to become the Yondaime Hokage.

However, 14 years ago, this village was attacked by the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The Kyuubi was a demon whose power was only marginally weaker then Metallica when that dark entity destroyed the Silver Millennium. Many people died during that foul creature's assault on this village. The princess w-was one of the casualties of the attack. Her husband heroically stopped the Kyuubi by offering his soul crystal to be devoured by the Shinigami for the power to stop the demon.

Naruto is Usagi's and Minato's only child, born on the night of the Kyuubi's attack. Usagi died only minutes after naming Naruto once he was born. However, Naruto's real tragedy involves the defeat of the Kyuubi. You see, Minato couldn't destroy the Kyuubi even with the help of the Shinigami like Usagi could have if she was alive. Minato was force to seal the Kyuubi away and the only thing strong enough to keep the demon trapped was a new born child. That's right Sailor Pluto; Minato sealed the Kyuubi away within his only son Naruto."

Sarutobi saw that the tale had become too painful for Luna to continue to tell, and so he jumped into to inform the shocked Setsuna of what she needed to know. "It was Minato's dieing wish that the village see Naruto as a hero for being the living prison that would keep us safe from the wrath of the Kyuubi. Sadly, most of the villagers have refused to see Naruto for what he is and had blamed him for the destruction caused by the Kyuubi. I truly hope that they repent of their folly when they learn that Naruto has, thanks to the power he has inherited from his mother, destroyed the demon sealed within him."

Setsuna sat there in her chair frozen in shock. Once again she had failed the royal family. First she hadn't been there to help defend the Lunar Palace from the attack by Metallica and now she hadn't been there to help her princess. Why couldn't she, when it really matter, not be there for her friends! Queen Serenity had been her closest friend and the princess had been like a niece to her. She should have been there to help both her queen and her princess and instead she was the Time Gates scratching her head trying to figure out what was wrong. In an uncharacteristic display of emotion, Setsuna let a tear slip down her check as she slammed her fists on the table and said, "Damn it! I should have been there for her! What kind of a guard am I if I can't even protect the person I swore I would protect?"

Luna hopped off the table and transformed into her human form. The now human Luna rapped her arms around the crying Setsuna and said, "Don't worry Sailor Pluto. You tried your best to reach the princess. You know that Usagi wouldn't want you to be crying over her. Even Naruto, once he found out who you are, is worried about you. Don't let the past eat at you Sailor Pluto. I've seen it happen to people around the village and trust me; you don't want to go down that road. If you want to make it up to the princess, then help me take care of Naruto and help him achieve his dreams."

It took her a few minutes, but Setsuna was able to get her emotions under check. Setsuna then said, "I didn't come alone. Ami, Makoto, Hotaru, and Naruto's grandmother came with me to this dimension. The spell that I used to allow us to come here will not allow us to go back until at least a month has past. Hokage, may we stay in your village?" Sarutobi just smiled his grandfatherly smile and said, "Of course you and your party may stay in Konoha. Friends of Usagi are always welcome guests as long as I rule Konoha. Although, I think that you will have to move into the Tsukino clan house a bit sooner Luna." This little bit of humor brought a small smile to Setsuna's lips. Perhaps, the senshi of time thought, things would be alright.

It was early morning and Makoto was currently in the kitchen of the Tsukino Clan house making breakfast for all of the people there. As she made breakfast Makoto thought about the previous few days. It had taken a few days for Naruto, Luna, and their inter-dimensional guests to get themselves fully straighten out in the Tsukino Clan household. It had also been a major shock for the scouts and Ikuko to find out that Usagi was dead. However, their shock and pain did not stop them form taking a liking to Naruto. The story that was being told around town was that the Scouts and Ikuko were from across the sea and had arrived here looking for Usagi. Once it was discovered that Usagi was Naruto's mother, the drug stores were making a killing selling headache and indigestion meds to the villagers. However, most of the younger kids hadn't figured out why the older people in the village were acting so strange about who Naruto's mother was.

Makoto thought more about this strange world that she was currently in. The things that these ninja were capable of just amazed the senshi of wood. In fact, she had, and rather timidly for her, asked Naruto if he wouldn't mind teaching her some of the ninja's abilities. Naruto had told her to wait for an answer as he had to check something. A few hours latter Naruto told her at supper that, because the Scouts were sworn to serve and protect his house first and foremost, they were considered by Fire Country law to be his servants. This meant that it was perfectly okay for any of the Scouts to learn about Chakra and how to use it as they, via his oath of service to Konoha, were members of the village. After that, Naruto had shown her to the Tsukino clan library and directed her to some beginner books on Chakra.

The pride that Naruto had spoken of when he talked about being a ninja and, to a slightly lesser extent, protecting Konoha had caused Makoto to realize something. Naruto was determined to prove himself here in the Elemental Countries. The boy's heart was in Fire Country and Konoha; Naruto would not want to return to Earth in a month when they were able to use the spell again. Naruto may eventually want to visit Earth, but he would never want to live there. This fact caused Makoto to develop an uncomfortable lump in her throat.

She had sworn a while ago that she would never abandon Usagi or her children. That she would serve and protect royal moon family with all here might. However, Makoto didn't know if she had the strength to spend the rest of her life here in Konoha. True, she had no real ties holding her to Earth except for the other Scouts after her parents had died. Still, Earth was familiar to Makoto and she was just used to how things went on over there. Makoto shook her head, she still plenty of time before she would have to worry about something like that.

Makoto put the breakfast dishes on a tray and carried them into the dinner room were everyone was sitting and waiting for her patiently. After placing the tray on the center of the table, Makoto sat down to Naruto's right. Naruto was sitting at the 'head' of the table. Makoto and Ami were each sitting next to him followed by Hotaru and Setsuna, at the foot of the table sat Ikuko with Luna in her cat form on the table next to the Tsukino matriarch. Although it put a cramp in his early morning training Naruto had insisted that, unless outside events dictated otherwise, everyone would eat breakfast and dinner together as a family. When Ami had asked Naruto why he insisted so strongly he had said, "I've seen other clans become fragmented. I want to insure that the Tsukino family in the future doesn't fall prey to such idiocy. Having a clan rule that all members of the clan eat their meals together will hopefully help my future descendents remain united."

Breakfast was rather quiet as everyone was busy eating. Ami mentioned that she was scanning in the text of the Tsukino Clan library into the Mercury Computer so that they would have a backup incase something happened to the written records. Naruto politely thanked Ami for her initiative, which caused her to start sporting a blush. Naruto finished his meal and said, "Excellent meal Makoto, I would like to have seconds. However, I need to be going to meet up with my genin team. See you latter everyone." Naruto then got up and, after giving Luna and Ikuko a small kiss, left the room.

The girl quietly continued eating their breakfast for a few minutes until Luna spoke up. "You know Scouts," At this everyone at the table turned to face Luna, "Each of you would make an excellent bride for Naruto." At this all of the scouts did a spit-take and Ikuko scowled. Ikuko then turned to face Luna and said, "How can you even suggest such a thing Luna! After all, Naruto is Usagi's only son. If anything, these girls would be like Naruto's aunts and not suitors. Besides, their only 15 years old."

Luna put up her paws in a gesture of surrender before she said, "They're around Naruto's age and girls that he respects. Due to the laws of the Elemental Countries Naruto will, whether we like it or not, have to have several lovers in order to ensure that his bloodline doesn't die out. Also Ikuko, while I agree that the scouts except for Setsuna are rather young, they are at the age that a lot of girls start to marry in these lands. I think of Naruto like he's a son to me and I want him to, at the very least, marry girls that he can respect and that can hold their own in this world. The Scouts, you have to admit, fit that bill to a tee. I wasn't trying to force them in any way to marry Naruto, just try to let them know of the possibility."

Each of the scouts started to blush when they heard what Luna had to say. Makoto was screaming within her mind, "Great Luna, you just had to bring that up! I mean, yes Naruto is handsome and a great guy. But how can you just suggest that we become part of a harem with him like it was getting a new dress?" Looking around the table at an annoyed Ikuko and embarrassed scouts, Luna hoped that Naruto was having a good time with his team.

Author's notes: that's another chapter in Mother Moon. Naruto has met the scouts and it seems that a few of the girls are starting to take a liking to Naruto. Next time we have the start of the Chunin exams. If you want to know what language it was that Setsuna was chanting the spell in, she was chanting in Greek


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer, I only own part of the plot that was not created by the owners of Naruto or Sailor Moon. Welcome to another exciting chapter of Mother Moon. Just so you know, currently the polls are 2 for Gaara/Hotaru, 0 for Shino/Hotaru, 1 for G'Kar/Setsuna and 1 for Kakashi/Setsuna please keep the votes coming.

Naruto was calmly walking down the streets of Konoha on the long way to Team 10's meeting point. Anko had told them to come an hour latter than normal today because she would be in a meeting for various Jonin. As Naruto came to in intersection in the road, he turned his head to see a girl that caught his attention. She had emerald eyes and yellow hair that was done up in four pigtails. The girl was currently walking alone and had a big fan on her back. When Naruto saw the girl's forehead protector lying around her neck, he knew that she was a Suna ninja.

Naruto, who had developed a great ability to read faces, saw that the girl seemed to be lost or at least looking for something. Deciding to follow his gut feeling, Naruto calmly approached the girl and said in a polite tone. "Hello there, would you mind telling me your name and what it is you are looking for? I might be able to help you I know what it is you need help finding." Temari blinked her eyes as she saw and realized that a Konoha ninja was trying to help her. Part of her was flattered that someone wanted to help her without knowing who she was, another part of her was annoyed that he thought she needed his help.

Seeing that Naruto was looking at her face and not her assets, the flattered part of Temari's mind won. Temari gave a slight smile and said, "Temari of the Desert, I'm looking for one of my younger brothers." Naruto gave a slight nod towards Temari and said, "Naruto Tsukino. I'll help you try and find your brother, but in an hour I'll have to leave to meet up with my teammates. Just out of curiosity is your other brother, the one we're not looking for, back in Suna and that's why you're not worried about him?" Temari felt a strange feeling for a second when she heard Naruto's question and then forgot about the feeling. For some reason unknown to Temari, she found herself opening up to Naruto and said. "I'm looking for the older of my two brothers Kankuro. Gaara, the youngest of the three of us, shouldn't cause any trouble; at least not among the civilians for right now. Kankuro I except will try to cause trouble; even though we're not supposed to and Gaara will be mad if he does cause trouble."

Naruto just nodded his head as he listened to Temari describe Kankuro and what he was dressed in. However, a part of Naruto's mind was working at super-speed to analyze Temari, what she had told him, and importantly how she had acted when she spoke. Warning bells were going off for Naruto due to how Temari had acted. Why should she be so afraid of her younger brother? It was obvious from the way she spoke about Kankuro that she didn't consider him much of a threat. So what was Gaara, the youngest sibling, like to scare the very self assured Temari?

Breaking off his thoughts for later, Naruto took another sweep of the area around him and spotted his target. Turning to face Temari Naruto said, "If I'm not mistaken, that's your brother over there drooling at the cover of this month's Playninja issue in the window." Temari looked over to where Naruto was pointing and narrowed her eyes. Tick over her eye, Temari stormed over to where her brother was making a fool of himself and twisted one of his ears while putting his neck into a chock hold. Temari hissed into Kankuro's ear, "And just what do you think you're doing brother dear?"

Naruto just shook his head as he watched the scene going on in front of him. An annoyed Temari and embarrassed Kankuro made their way back to where Naruto stood. Knowing that he still had some time before he would have to worry about meeting his teammates, Naruto inquired, "Do you need anymore help or are you two find on your own for now." Before either of the Sand siblings could answer that question, Naruto stepped in front of Kankuro to stop a running Konohamaru from running into the annoyed ninja.

The present Sand Siblings watched on in amusement as Naruto started to talk with the little boy. "Konohamaru, why were you running like that? Do you realize that you almost ran into the ninja my right who probably would reach harshly to you?" Konohamaru started to look down at his feet as he said, "But boss, There was this very ugly banshee with pink hair that attacked me!" Naruto felt a headache start to come as he went through the people he knew that matched Konohamru's description and then asked. "Konohamaru, what did you say before this 'banshee' started to attack you?" Konohamaru started to smile with a big grin and said, "I was just telling my friends that I overheard a few Jonin say that Sasuke must be gay."

Naruto smacked his head and let out a groan. Hand over his eyes, Naruto stated, "Konohamaru, you're an idot. You don't go repeating things like that, especially where the dreaded and pathetic life-form known as rabid fan-girls can overhear you! And to make matters worse, it was the biggest Uchiha fan-girl that overheard you. Sakura may only be plain in looks and slightly below average in her practical ninja skills, but insulting Sasuke will turn her into an entity that even Anko would prefer to avoid."

Naruto then turned his head towards a particular branch on a nearby tree. In a firm but not threatening voice, Naruto called out "Why don't you join us out here instead of being in that tree?" Temari and Kankuro started to get nervous when they saw Gaara body flicker onto the nearby fence. Gaara turned to look and Naruto and said, "What is your name." Naruto just smiled and said, "Naruto Tsukino, and you are?" Gaara curtly said, "Gaara of the Desert, I look forward to fighting you Naruto Tsukino." With that, Gaara started to walk away and was followed by his nervous siblings.

* * *

Ino and Kiba were sitting in a meadow near Training area 44 waiting for their two other teammates. Inside her mind, Ino started to complain to herself. "Where is Naruto? Ever since that mission where we encountered that G'Kar guy, the world has gone on its head!" The young mind mistress wasn't really mad at Naruto; rather she was mad that her entire world view had been broken, the pieces stirred up, and then placed back together in a jigsaw puzzle. After a few minutes, Ino stopped ranting inside her mind and started looking at the situation from the beginning. She did this so that she could calm down and solve her problem; it just wouldn't do for a rising ninja such as herself to lose her head.

In her mind Ino started to talk to herself. "Alright Ino, let's look at the facts and see where they lead. Naruto's mother was apparently a reincarnated princess from a powerful kingdom in another _Dimension._Still hard to believe that last fact about Naruto; No Ino you've got to focus! Now the source of Naruto's bloodline, and I guess you can actually call it that, is his fast healing and his ability to draw energy from the Moon. He told Kiba and me that he has another form which he claimed was 10 times stronger than his senshi form."

"Less then a week after we get back from Konoha, things really start to go crazy. First, Naruto has friends and relatives from his mother's side come visit him. Ino knew that Naruto's visitors had come to Konoha via a 'spell' trying to find his mother even though the rest of the village had been told they were from over the ocean. Once the general villagers had heard that Naruto's mother was born Usagi Tuskino, they all started acting really strange. I mean, they always act around Naruto but they used to get a scowl and wanted nothing to do with him. Now, a lot of them looked like the just found out they through away the winning lottery ticket! I wish I could solve that problem."

For the next few minutes, Ino's mind flashed through scenes that she had witnessed of Naruto in town lately with his out of town guests. In particular Ino's mind focused on the blue haired and the brown haired girls that could usually be seen accompanying Naruto. Ino thought about these particular scenes and how the two girls interacted with Naruto. The blue haired Ami seemed to be shy, not Hinata Huyga shy, but shy never the less. The other girl, Makoto seemed full of life and was willing to speak her mind no mater what. Both of them Ino knew were helping Naruto; Ami in research, and Makoto through little odds in ends that Ino didn't know all of. Ino felt a surge of emotion rising from within her.

Suddenly a realization hit Ino with the force the legendary Tsunade's renowned right hook. Inside her mind, Ino whispered, "It can't be; I'm jealous of them. Why is it that I am jealous of Ami and Makoto when went they want to spend time with Naruto? After all, I like Sasuke right?" Ino brought up images of Sasuke within her mind, but the feelings that she used to feel at these thoughts didn't happen. Why was this so? Was it that she truly didn't like the Uchiha survivor anymore or was it that she simply hadn't seen him in a while?

Ino was shaken out of her mental musings when she heard Kiba get up and yell, "About time you got here Moon Fish!" Ino turned her head to see Naruto walking towards them. Naruto's dark orange jacket was open so Ino could see his chest muscles covered by a black t-shirt. Also, Naruto's hands were in his pockets while his face was shining with his customary half-grin. Ino almost let out a moan as she looked at her friend. Here she was in the middle of a crisis over who she liked, and Naruto had come in here looking like that! Naruto was oblivious to the problems he was causing Ino; he just sat down under a tree and started a chakra control exercise.

Ten minutes after Naruto had joined his teammates, all members of team 10 got up sensing that Anko was nearing their location. Anko walked into the meadow with her usual grin on her face before she started talking. "Okay runts, I'm glad that you're all here on time. I have decided to allow you guys to have a shot in the Chunin exams." With that, Anko pulled out three forms from her trench coat pocket. All three genin accepted the permission forms from Anko without any questions asked.

Anko then said, "You will need those forms in order to get into the Chunin exams. If you decide to go, bring those filled out forms to Room 301 at the Ninja Academy by 9:00. A.M. Understand me; you three may not be able to make it to Chunin. However, I want you to understand the test and to see what it means to be a Chunin. Also, if you runts continue to grow like you have been, I wouldn't be surprised if you pass this or your next exam." Anko then left her three students to think over their options carefully.

* * *

Ami Mizuno, arguably one of the smartest people to have ever lived, was currently in the Tsukino family library busy at work scanning in the contents of the Library into the Mercury computer. While the magical computer was hard at work storing the new information into its hard drive, Ami was herself reading with half attention a book on sealing techniques. The subject was just fascinating to Ami, who was drawn to its logical and methodical workings. Unlike Nin and Gen jutsu, Fuunjutsu required accuracy and a great understanding of the power being shape in order to produce its effects. However, even though Fuunjutsu was far more complicated and harder to perform, it had great benefits that would make any 'Seal Master' a person to be feared.

One thing about Fuunjutsu that grabbed Ami was their long lasting effects. The Huyga's Juken would have its chakra blocking effects dissipate after a few hours. On the other hand, a seal for blocking a person's chakra would last as long as it was designed for or until it was destroyed by someone who knew how to combat it. Also, seals could be fashioned to do a multitude of tasks. Over the past couple of days Ami had read about how there were seals for security, seals for preservation, and seals to collect energy. However, those high level seals were mostly unknown to the population who thought of seals as in explosive notes and a sealing scroll.

While Fuunjutsu was a neglected ninja art for most people, Ami was dedicating her free energy to becoming a Seal Mistress. Already in her mind were bubbling various ideas for seals she could create. Some of the seals Ami was half dreaming up were vast creations that would be better called a seal array then seals. In her mind's eye, Ami saw a hybridization of Silver Millennium magic and ninja seals. They would have the power to do things that would make even a Seal Master go starry eyed.

Ami was shaken out of her fantasy when she heard the door to the library open up. Ami shook her head and turned to look at who was entering the library. A blush started to form on Ami's face when she saw that it was Naruto who had entered the library. Naruto had decided to leave his usual orange jacket off so Ami was greeted by a view of Naruto's rather well developed muscles. The rather shy genius just politely greeted Naruto before she ducked her head back into her book. After giving Ami a cheerful greeting, Naruto picked up a book and started to read it in a seat across from Ami.

Without any indication to the outside world, Ami was having a fierce debate within her soul. "Oh my, Naruto sure is handsome. No! Naruto's is Usagi's son, which makes him off limits. Why does that make him off limits, he is our age after all. Be-because we went to school with Usagi, I was best friends with Usagi; I should be more like an aunt to Naruto! But Usagi was dropped off in this dimension over 18 years ago! That would make her closer to your or her own mother in age. Besides, if Usagi knew of the time discrepancy, she would wholeheartedly support us bedding Naruto."

Ami almost passed out and wondered where that last thought came from. Usagi was a kind and generous girl and from what Ami had heard from Luna and Naruto's teacher Anko, Usagi had not changed at all in that regard while she was alive. It wouldn't be too far of a stretch to see Usagi agreeing or even encouraging Naruto to get together with her or Makoto. Within her mind Ami continued to debate the situation with the part of her that was acting like the devil's advocate. "Even if Usagi would have accepted me dating Naruto, there is no way she would accept me b-be-bed."

At the moment the other part of her cut her off and said. "Why wouldn't Usagi accept us roping Naruto in to a first class flight to cloud nine? After all, Naruto will need 'help' in restoring his clan. Who better then some dear old friends who knew his mother, are compassionate, understanding, helpful, and will spend the next 1,000 years with him?" At that point, Ami found herself losing her opposition to the idea and she was 'sure' that she didn't want that to happen. Ami got up and said, "Excuse me Naruto; I'm just going to take care of something." Once gave Ami his foxy smile, Ami determined that she needed a long cold soak in the tub.

* * *

At 8 a.m. sharp, the three genins of team Maelstrom met at the pre-appointed crossroad. Each of them was in their usual ninja attire, but they were loaded with their 'full mission' supply scrolls. They all expected to be able to pass the exam and wanted to be prepared for whatever may come their way. Naruto took point as he led his two teammates over to the Academy. Less then 10 minutes latter, Team Maelstrom calmly walked into the Academy. After walking up a flight of stairs they were surprised to see people clamoring around 'Room 301'. Naruto, Ino, and Kiba looked at each other and said simultaneously "Genjutsu." After that, the three continued walking up the stairs until the reached the real Room 301.

"Well, well, good to see that you three runts didn't embarrass me by falling for that 'cleaver pretest.'" The three genin turned as one to face their smirking teacher Anko. On hearing the sarcasm dipping from Anko's mouth, Ino said, "Who was the idiot who put up that pathetic Genjutsu? It was so weak that only a complete moron could be caught in it. They should have at least made it so that you would think you've gone up another flight of stairs first!" Anko pulled out a Dango stick and said between bites, "The genjutsu 'test' was set up by few of the councilmen. However, they lowered the level of the genjutsu after a councilmen's son was kicked out of the exam due to being caught by the genjutsu. The Hokage still hasn't been able to look over all the regulations to see where 'The Fallen' has fouled us up, thus wasn't able to get to changing the ruling for this particular test."

Team Maelstrom nodded somberly at their teacher's words, 'The Fallen' was a very upsetting subject for the team. They didn't know whether to be proud they had unmasked those traitors or worried that 'The Fallen' had purportedly vowed vengeance against them and their families. Naruto ended the uncomfortable silence by saying, "Although it is great to see you Anko, why are you here now?" Anko, who was working on yet another Dango stick, said "If the three of you hadn't shown up together, I would have kicked the other two's butts for trying to go into the exam without a full team. But since all three of you are here, I just want to say 'Give them Hell!'" With that, Anko body flickered away and Naruto, Kiba, and Ino walked into the room.

Team Maelstrom watched as various teams from Konoha and other hidden villages trickled into the waiting room. Soon the room was full Chunin hopefuls, most of who were just begging for a fight. Kiba looked around the room and then grabbed Naruto's jacket before saying. "Hey look Naruto; Drama Queen is in the house." Naruto looked and saw his friend pointing to team 7; to be more specific, at Sasuke. Naruto looked over at Ino and, upon seeing a tick start to develop on her forehead, started to pray to the gods for his soul.

Ino, while initially upset that Kiba would insult Sasuke, did not feel the usual anger that she used to feel when Sasuke was insulted in her presence before. Looking over towards team 7, Ino did not feel the old feelings that she used to whenever she was around Sasuke. Inside her mind, Ino snapped her mental fingers and said, "Damn. It looks like I really am over Sasuke. Then that means that I do have a crush on Naruto, well at least I didn't get a crush on Kiba. Still, this is too good of an opening to annoy Kiba to resist!" With that Ino brought her closed fist onto the top of Kiba's head. She then said just loud enough so that her voice could carry. "Calm down Kiba, I hear that getting fixed will calm a hyper dog down so it might work on you." Kiba narrowed his eyes and said, "That was a low blow Ino!" Ino just smirked and shot back, "You left yourself wide open for that and you know it Dog Breath!"

"So troublesome," was heard to team 10's left. Naruto then without turning around said, "Hello Shikamaru, how are Choji and Hinata doing?" Team 8 came into view and Hinata said, "W-we're doing fine N-Naruto." Only moments latter Team 7 came and joined their fellow rookies. Seeing the nine of them there Kiba said, "Well it looks like the Rookie 9 have all showed up!"

Suddenly a silver haired boy with glasses came up to the Rookie 9 and said, "Not so loud you rookies. This hall is filled with ninjas, many with short tempers and they are ready to fight." Shikamaru then said, "And who would you be?" At this the silver haired boy gave a friendly smile and adjusted his glasses before saying. "My name's Kabuto, a fellow Konoha ninja. These exams are no picnic let me assure you. I've seen real good ninja fail, die, or be driven insane." At this, most of the Rookie 9 got sullen looks on their faces. Sakura then said in a shaky voice, "K-kabuto, how many times have you taken this exam?"

Kabuto shrugged his shoulders and said, "This is my 7th time of trying to take the exam. Because of my failures, I started collecting whatever information I could on my various competitors. After all, information is power." At this point Kabuto pulled out a deck of cards and said, "While we may be competitors in the exams, we are all Konoha ninja at the end of the day. On these cards in my hands I've stored information on various ninja. Just tell me the name of the ninja you would like to know more about and I'll share what I have on the person."

Just as Sasuke was about to ask Kabuto for some information about Gaara of the Sand and Rock Lee, Ino and Kiba both felt Naruto lightly tugging at their clothes. The two followed Naruto over to the corner where Ino confronted Naruto. "Naruto, what's going on the Kabuto guy was about to give us a lot of information." Naruto turned to face Kiba and said, "What does Akamaru say about Kabuto's power level?" Kiba and Ino were confused about Naruto's question, but Kiba asked Akamaru anyway. Kiba's eyes suddenly narrowed as he said, "Akamaru says that Kabuto's power level is around that Anko and just as well controlled." Ino then said in a questioning tone, "How can that be? Kabuto said that he had failed 7 times, could he have just gotten back from a training trip?"

Naruto thought about it and then said, "That is possible, but it is unlikely. Kabuto's body language is too humble and unsure to belong to a person who has gotten so strong. It is very strange that in a place like this someone would show up with information and so freely give it to people he's never met before. I'm almost certain that Kabuto's not worried about us embarrassing Konoha; there are 7 other teams from Konoha here." Kiba then said, "So Naruto, what are you saying about Kabuto?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders and then said, "All I'm saying is that we should avoid Kabuto when we can in the exam. We need to gather more information on Kabuto before we can say what's going on for sure. Until you told me his power level, all I knew was that my gut was telling me he was bad news."

Kiba and Ino just shock their heads when they heard why Naruto had originally pulled them over. While Naruto's reasoning might seem a little ridiculous to others, Kiba and Ino had come to trust their friend and leader's instincts. Do to their private conversation; Team 10 missed the altercation between Kabuto and the single team from the Village Hidden in Sound. Just as Team 10 was about to rejoin the rest of the Rookies, Ibuki walked out of a door and said, "Alright you mangy fools! Anyone who is not inside this room behind me and sitting in a desk in 10 minutes will be disqualified from the Chunin exams." There was then an orderly but mad rush to get into the classroom by the various genin.

After all of the Chunin hopefuls were seated, several of Ibuki's assistants slowly walked around the classroom handing out writing supplies and a sheet of paper. Once the assistants had finished handing out the supplies and returned to the sides of the room, Ibuki turned to address the genin. "This is the first exam of many that you hopefuls will be taking in order to become Chunin. I don't expect most of you to make it past this test, let along have a real chance of becoming Chunin. You will answer the questions listed on the test in front of you within one hour. For each question you get wrong, you will lose a point; for every time we catch you cheating, you will lose two points. The last question will be given in 45 minutes. And one last thing, when you screw up like you inevitably will; your teammates will be forced to leave with you as well."

Naruto flipped over his test and looked at the questions written on the sheet. Mentally Naruto started cursing as he read over the questions. "How by the Goddess am I supposed to know the answers to these questions, when I know that most Jonin probably don't know the answers?! Wait a minute, Ibuki said that we would lose 2 points if we were caught cheating. Normally on tests you would lose all your points if you are caught cheating. With the insane questions and leanient cheating rules, that logically means that we are supposed to cheat. That would make sense as it does test our information gathering abilities."

Naruto almost let out a groan when he continued to think the situation out. "However, I can't cheat well! Kiba's the main information gatherer of our team, not me! Ino I am sure will be able to cheat thanks to the Mind/Body transfer jutsu that is the basic skill of her family arts. There is no way that I can create a good enough Genjutsu to allow me to look at someone else's sheet without getting caught. Any other way of me cheating would be too obvious. Let's face it I'm a combat ninja without information gathering abilities, at least of the level needed for this scenario. I'll have to hope that Kiba or Ino find a way to help me."

Naruto suddenly felt a paw on his foot and looked down to see Akamaru standing on his foot. Kiba's furry companion then walked in front of Naruto's normal line of sight and started to wag his tail. Suddenly Naruto realized what Akamaru was trying to do and nearly crowed inside his mind. "Good boy! You're giving me the answers in Morse code by the wagging of your tail. I've got to remember to get you some doggy treats Akamaru after this is all over."

30 minutes, and cheat sheet secretly delivered, Naruto and the rest of the surviving genin were waiting for Ibuki to deliver the final question. "Well, well, well, It seems that we have a good deal of intelligent ninja here; either that or a bunch of really good cheaters! Before I give you the last question, you will have to choose. You can decide not to take the question and automatically fail. However, should you decided to take the question and you get it wrong. Then you will be forbidden by the various villages from even taking the Chunin exams again."

The teams of genin started to rapidly decline as one by one various team members would be overcome by fear and forfeit. Naruto let the teams dwindle till he saw Sakura start to raise her hand. Although he didn't really like the girl, Naruto felt the need to help the Rookie 9 whenever he could reasonably do so. Naruto then raised his voice and said, "Will you cut it with the mind games Mister Ibuki? This whole test has been nothing but a mind game of yours since we started. You've tested our information gathering abilities in the form of having to cheat in an impossibly hard test, and now you have to pull this latest trick on us. You may have more experience, and you may have seen more action on the field than we have, but you need to know one thing Ibuki. We are proud ninja of the Hidden Villages that we represent and we will not cower in front of a person who will play games with us."

Ibuki looked across the classroom and into the eyes of the various genin sitting in front of him. Any and all uncertainty that they might have had was washed away in Naruto's speech. Ibuki was annoyed that so many had passed, but he was also proud that a fellow Konoha ninja would restore courage to his comrades. Ibuki then smirked and said, "Very good, very good, it seems that someone knows how to look 'underneath the underneath'. The brat is correct; the first part of test was on your information gathering skills. The second part of the test is to see whether you have the courage to face the unknown or if you would rather take the safe and easy path. A person lacking in either of these abilities is not worthy of becoming a Chunin. By being here now you all have proven that you have what it takes in these requirements and so have passed the first test." Before anyone could cheer, Kurenai appeared looking like she had melted out of the wall before saying. "You hopefuls may have passed the first test, but I doubt you have the streagth of mind to pass my exam."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclamer: As you know, I own nothing but the original pieces of the plot here. So far in the polls the Gaara/Hotaru choice is greatly in the lead compared to the Shino/Hotaru choice. Also Kakashi/Setsuna is in a slight lead compared to the G'Kar/Setsuna choice. Just remember that the poll is still open and the votes are appreciated.

Kurenai lead the remaining teams of Genin test takers out of the academy and over to a training area with a large fence covered in danger signs. Kurenai then turned around to face the following Genin and stated in a deadly serious tone. "This is Training Area 44; more infamously known among the higher level Ninja of Konoha as the Forest of Death. Over the years since Konoha's founding, this forbidden area has claimed the lives of many aspiring ninja such as you here today. Many of those ninja's bleached bones can still be found, littering the dens of the various predators that live here."

"It has been decided by the Kages and Senior Jonin of the various hidden villages represented here today that you need to show that you have what it takes to survive in the world of the Shinobi. Therefore, you will be forced to spend up to the next five days within Training Area 44. Each team shall receive one scroll marked with either a 'Heaven' or with an 'Earth' symbol on it. You must acquire, through any mean necessary, a pair of Earth and Heaven scrolls. After you have the scrolls, you are to go to the tower located in the exact center of this training ground within the five day limit."

"This is no mere training exercise, this is a simulated mission under wartime that we are putting you through. Any tampering with the scrolls before you get to the tower will result in your team's forfeiture of the Chunin exam. Should one or more of your team members be killed or permanently disabled, the whole team will fail even if the surviving teammates have both scrolls. If any member of a team should leave the training ground before the five days are up, the whole team is disqualified. Before you are handed your team's scroll, you must all sign a waver showing that you are willing to accept the distinct possibility of your demise within this enclosed area. Welcome, to the real shinobi world."

As soon as Kurenai whispered that last sentence, she faded away from the view (and smell) of the assembled genin. At each genin's feet appeared two pieces of paper. One piece of paper told them where to go to start the exercise and when the second exam would start. The other piece of paper was the waver stating that the signer accepted full responsibility for their health and their life. Team Maelstrom, like all the assembled teams, quietly and somberly filled out the waver before heading towards their assigned gate. At the gate was a single Chunin waiting for them. After Team Maelstrom handed their wavers to the Chunin, he gave a Heaven scroll to Ino, and then he body flickered away.

Once the Chunin was away, Naruto turned to face his teammates. "Okay friends," Naruto started to say, "I think that the best place to hide the scroll is to have Akamaru swallow the scroll. Then, once we reach the tower after getting at least an Earth scroll, we can have Akamaru barf up our Heaven scroll." Kiba looked down at Akamaru, who just gave a small bark of agreement, before Kiba said, "Okay Naruto. I'll go along with your plan." A few minutes latter the gate in front of them opened with a creepy creak. Ino, Naruto, and Kiba confidently marched through the gate and began searching for some poor dumb simpletons to be relieved of an Earth scroll.

* * *

Makoto, hailed as the toughest girl in the southern Juban school district, was currently taking off her sweaty clothes in order to soak in the outdoor onsen of the Tsukino family compound. The Tsukino, formerly Namikaze, compound was a rather unique design. Its rectangular parameter with the longer sides running North/South was protected by a tall wooden wall with a single entrance in the center of the southern wall. The first half of lower rectangle was open space for training and other gatherings. The main family compound was rectangular with two wings jutting to the north positioned so that a trapezoid could be draw using the northern wall of the main compound and the northern ends of the two wings for its points. The geothermal onsen was located in the center of the space between the two wings.

After removing all of her clothes, Makoto carefully stepped into the stone bath and moved herself so that she was lying on a carved 'bed' within the bath that allowed her head and the top of her shoulders to be above water. Makoto just laid there with her eyes half-closed; allowing the soothingly warm mineral water relax her tired muscles. Oblivious to the world around her, Makoto thought back on her four hour long training session that she had just completed.

Before Naruto had left to take the Chunin exam today, he had offered her and the rest of the travelers the option of staying in Konoha at the Tsukino compound instead of just going back to Earth. Makoto had, although she hadn't voiced it to anyone, decided to accept Naruto's offer. There just really wasn't much holding her to Earth and she had vowed to protect the Lunar Royal family and help it no matter the cost. Besides, Naruto had quickly grown on her just like Usagi had.

That was what made her train so hard today, far harder then she had previously since she arrived on this world. If she was going to help Naruto make it in this world, she needed to be as strong as she could be. Sure, she could just be a 'regular' civilian; but Makoto knew that such a position for her would be dangerous to Naruto with how things were now. Clan Tsukino, technically made up of Naruto with the sailor scouts as retainers, was in a very precarious position. Between its status in Konoha and its currently weakened manpower, vultures desiring its political power or monetary wealth were bound to try and move in sooner or later. Therefore Makoto was training as hard as she could to help Naruto protect his possessions.

Currently Makoto's martial art-, err Taijutsu, was about low to mid Chunin. Her Chakra output, when not in her Sailor Jupiter form, was around average to slightly high genin levels. Chakra control was around second to third year academy student level but quickly improving. Makoto was a veteran of several campaigns against invading monsters bent on taking over Tokyo and also was remembering more of her training from the Silver Millennium daily.

However, that experience and the general battle tactics she had learned were of little use against ninjas. But Makoto was adapting to the new conditions she faced. In fact, Makoto had only an hour ago successfully completed her first jutsu. Sure, it was only a D-ranked jutsu but it was a start. Makoto figured that, on pulling several hour long training sessions each day, she should be able to acceptably pull off the three academy jutsu by the end of the week. Makoto had decided that she would not join Konoha's ninja force but remain a clan retainer with ninja training. Such a thing was uncommon but not unheard of in Konoha along with other hidden villages.

Makoto opened her eyes, grabbed a bar of soap, and started to lather herself up. As she was doing this, Makoto started to talk to herself. "I know that I want to stay here with Naruto, but what can I do to help him? My training is going as fast as it possibly can, but unless I transform I won't be much of a threat to anyone higher then a genin. Ami, Hotaru, and Setsuna are all training as well, whether to stay here or just have more skills for when they return to Earth I don't know.

Hotaru naturally produces 'Medical Chakra', or at least that's what the people here have classified her healing abilities. I saw her bringing several books on medical techniques into her room for study. Ami is fascinated by the sealing techniques she's found and wants to merge them with Silver Millennium magic. I could have sworn I saw Setsuna reading a book on beginners Genjutsu. That, plus I've seen her training late at night with her Time Key. She's a master at bojutsu. All I have is Tai and Ninjutsu along with my household skills."

"Sure, Naruto doesn't care about that at all. However, I really want to help him. He's just given me so much just trying to be friendly, and that's not considering what I owed Usagi that transferred to him. He doesn't care at all about that debt and only used the Scout's bond to him in order to help us have an accepted place in this society. Still, what can I offer him that will truly help him out and shows that I care about him?"

Makoto submerged herself in order to rinse off the soap suds. As Makoto's head broke the surface of the water she strangely thought she heard Usagi's voice once more softly speak to her. "You could offer to bare his child." At this Makoto rapidly looked around her trying to find the source of the voice she thought she had heard.

Makoto then, after assuring herself that no one was around, sunk deeper into the water and started to talk to herself again. "Weird, I must be more stressed then I thought. Why would I think of a thing like offering to give Naruto a child? I mean I know that he needs an heir, the sooner the better but I can't just do something like that! Naruto may be handsome, friendly, considerate, helpful, and a good person; but something like offering to give birth to a child is WAY off the chart for how things are between us. We've barely known each other for two weeks, let alone gone on a date! Add to that's the fact that I'm barely 16 and he's just turned 14 four months ago."

Makoto then got out of the onsen and, without bothering to cover her form with a towel, headed for her room. Once in her room, Makoto changed into a set of cloths that Luna had bought for her under Naruto's directions. Naruto had done this for her, Ikuko, and the other scouts because he wanted them to have durable clothes to wear that would also allow them to blend in with the rest of the Konoha population. Makoto laid on her bed for a few minutes before she remembered a comment that Luna had said the other day to her and the rest of the scouts. "What does that cat mean by wives?" Makoto then headed over to the family libaray to see what Luna meant by that comment.

* * *

Naruto was on the top bunk of the twin bed in Team Maelstrom's room at the tower. Kiba was on the bottom bunk with Akamaru on the dog boy's chest. Ino had claimed the sole double bed in the room. Team Maelstrom was the second team to the tower, beaten by the Sand team of Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro by only 15 minutes. Naruto was just staring at the ceiling while his mind raced over the events of the earlier day. Out of all the Genin at the exam, Naruto found himself thinking about Gaara most of all. There was something about Gaara that unsettled Naruto and Naruto wanted to know why.

Actually, there were three people in this exam that put Naruto on edge. Gaara, Kabuto, and someone else that he hadn't been able to get a clear picture of. However, these three people all gave off a slightly different feel of worry for Naruto. Gaara put Naruto on his toes, like a person would be around an unknown volcano. Kabuto was like a viper; dangerous but could be possibly handled with extreme care. The last person that Naruto had felt, well it could only be described as unnatural. There was something about that last presence that demanded that it be eradicated.

Over and over again Naruto thought about those three people. Gaara who Naruto felt could become less of a 'danger', Kabuto who Naruto felt should be avoided, and finally that last unknown person who should be destroyed. Naruto got so frustrated with it all that he started talking to himself. "Okay Naruto, let's look at this rationally. Something about those three makes you nervous. It can't just be their strong ninjas; after all, Kiba and Ino didn't get nervous around Kabuto until Akamaru told Kiba how powerful Kabuto was."

Turning over on his side, Naruto then said while looking at the waxing Moon shine through the window. "Could that be the reason why? Could it be because of my bloodline that I'm sensing something off about those three? But that doesn't make any sense at all! Makoto, Ami, Hotaru, Setsuna, and the Sailor Scouts on Earth all have their senshi forms and their 'bloodlines' are extremely close to my own. However, I don't recall them or Luna ever when talking about their battles with monsters and other threats ever mentioning a feeling like this. I mean the Lunar Royal family was basically a super-charged family of senshi who, through kind and benevolent ruling and the protection they offered, became the rulers of the Silver Millennium."

Naruto then shook his head, anyone who could truly and fully explain his heritage was long dead. There were probably things about his bloodline that he would never know simply because the information had been lost. One thing that having the villagers' hostility directed towards him had taught Naruto was to focus on reality. Currently, reality was that he was in the middle of a very important and dangerous test. A test that he would handle better if he got a full night of sleep, so Naruto closed his eyes and tried to relax.

Naruto suddenly opened his eyes to find himself once again among the ruins of the Silver Millennium. Looking down at himself, Naruto discovered that he wasn't wearing his pajamas or his regular ninja outfit but rather his Moonlight Knight uniform. Naruto closed his eyes for a second in order to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. Upon opening his eyes and seeing that he was in fact among the ruins, Naruto let out a brilliant smile. If he was here, then most likely his 'grandmother' Queen Serenity was here as well. She could probably answer any questions that he might have about his heritage.

A quick glance around the area revealed to Naruto that Queen Serenity wasn't in the immediate vicinity. Noticing a stone path leading away from the ruins and where he was at, Naruto thought about his options. Almost instantly Naruto decided to walk down the path to try and find Queen Serenity. The winding path quickly led away from the main sections of the palace ruins. Soon Naruto noticed that the grass along the path was greener and longer then it had previously been.

Finally, after turning to corner of a partially moss covered stone wall, Naruto spotted Queen Serenity. She was in a plan simple white dress sitting on a stone bench by a pond. In her hand was a fishing pole, and down next to the bench was a small tackle box. Queen Serenity turned to face Naruto, smiled and then said, "Come over here Naruto and sit down. The fish are really biting today. I was expecting you so I brought an extra fishing pole if you want to fish as well."

Naruto quickly hurried over to sit down on the bench; while quite mature Naruto was still a young man who wanted to spend time with his grandma. Naruto was only on the bench for a few seconds when Queen Serenity handed Naruto a baited fishing pole and said. "Now be careful Naruto. The Pieces will try and steal the bait of the hook so you've got to react to any changes in the pull of the tackle on the pole." Naruto gratefully accepted the fishing pole and cast the hook out into the lake. The two of them just spent the next few minutes in small talk about the Sailor Scouts and how things were generally going in Konoha.

Just after Naruto reeled in a large fish, Queen Serenity then turned to him with a smile and said, "That was a lot of fun Naruto, you should visit more often so we can do that again. However, I believe that it's now time for me to start explaining your emerging powers to you." At this Naruto became very serious and remembered why he had first been looking for Queen Serenity. Queen Serenity then collected the fishing poles and placed the fish into the tackle box.

She then turned to give Naruto her undivided attention and started to speak. "Naruto, as you know, there were several changes that happened to your lunar royal heritage do to your father sealing the Kyuubi within you. To explain what it was that you were feeling during the exam towards those three people requires a little bit of a background in so aspects of your powers. One of the biggest things that differs a senshi from a regular person, besides the fact that they draw power from a particular planet, is that they have two Chakra natures while a regular person has only one. One of those natures is dominate when you're in civilian form and the other when in senshi form. With training, a senshi can treat both their natures as the dominate nature at the same time no mater what form they are in.

Now you might want to know how that relates to what you're currently experiencing towards those three people right. This is where the Kyuubi comes in. Not only did it permanently increase the energy you and your future children draw from your planet source; but the demon physically enhanced you as well. Besides your great self healing abilities; the demon boosted your natural senses which will become more obvious the older you get. In boosting your senses, the latent extra sensory perception sense within all humans was for you linked to one of your chakra natures.

Naruto, your natures are wind, which is your civilian nature, and celestial which was the nature linked. Celestial chakra is, in layman's terms, holy chakra. It has no weakness in the primary and secondary Chakra cycles that the ninjas will teach you. Celestial chakra is also very effective against demons, darkness consumed people, and abominations against nature. That someone set off your 6th sense means that they fall into the stated categories that Celestial chakra is strong against or are closely connected to them."

Naruto nodded his head in order to show his grandma that he understood what she was telling him. Naruto then pulled her into a hug and said, "Thank you grandma Serenity. I love you as much as I love grandma Ikuko. I just wish I could come here more often to visit you."

Queen Serenity wrapped her arms around Naruto, brought her forehead down to his head, and gently spoke. "Don't worry Naruto, I love you too. Remember even though I not there for you most of the time, I'm always there for you when you really need me." Naruto felt a mist roll in and Queen Serenity's arms 'fade' away from him. By the time Queen Serenity's presence could no longer be felt by Naruto, he had already fallen into a deep sleep.

* * *

At the end of the five day limit, a total of seven teams managed to complete the second test of the Chunin exam. The 21 Genin were now assembled in front of Sarutobi and a few other high ranking Ninjas waiting for the Hokage to speak. Sarutobi looked into each of the eyes of the assembled Genin and the started to speak. "I commend you all for making it this far. The large number of you assembled here shows just how talented you all are, and the strength of your villages."

"However, the fact that so many of you have done so well presents a bit of a problem. You see, the final part of the exam is tournament where you young hopefuls shall battle in front of the lords of the various lands. This tournament allows you to display not only that you have the qualities to become Chunin, but also the strength of your particular village. As you all know, a Village's strength is the strength of its ninja and a ninja's full strength can only be seen in a life or death struggle. Therefore, the matches of this tournament shall be till knockout, death, or if the ref decides to end the match due to a contestant completely overpowering their opponent so that the victor cannot be contested."

"Now you can see the problem with the number of you here. The lords of the various lands' time are valuable. Thus, we shall hold a preliminary tournament right now with the same rules as the main rounds of the tournament. If any of you desire to withdraw now, you may do so without it harming your teammates because as of right now the test focuses on you all as individuals." Only Kabuto withdrew from the tournament claiming that he was too exhausted from the previous test to handle the exam. Sarutobi nodded his head signaling that Kabuto could leave and then the Hokage gave the floor to the referee Gekko Hayate.

Gekko then coughed and said to the Genin. "I would like you all to pay attention to that board over there. The names of the participants of the matches shall randomly appear on the board. All peoples' whose names do not appear on the board are to head upstairs where they can watch the matches until their name is called." The board started flashing names until two names appeared- Ino Yamanaka and Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto noticed Kakashi whisper something to Sasuke before Kakashi and the rest of the ninjas headed to the second floor to watch the fight.

Sasuke was expecting to be facing just another fangirl like Sakura and so didn't get into a stance when Gekko called the start of the match. Ino on the other hand took Sasuke very seriously. She knew that her usual tricks of Genjutsu wouldn't work on him sense he had the Sharingan. Also, except for one technique that Anko had helped her create, her other techniques were too slow to be effective against her former crush. A plan formed within Ino's mind, it was a gamble, but it was her best shot at making it to the final rounds.

Up in the stands; Temari, for some reason unknown to her, decided to go over to Naruto and as him his opinion of the match. On approaching the blond boy Temari said, "So Naruto, what do you think of your teammates chances?" Ignoring the look of surprise on Kiba's face that Temari was talking to him, Naruto spoke his mind. "To be honest Temari, it doesn't look good for Ino. While she is a very talented ninja, Sasuke's skill and bloodline give him a natural advantage over those areas that Ino is weak in. She's not out yet, but victory for Ino will as far as I can see depends on her pulling off a certain combo of techniques. If she pulls them off, she's won. However, should she make a single mistake in the combo, she's lost the match."

Down in the stadium, Ino had very discreetly connected her fingertips to some thin wires. The wires were in two small wrist pouches that Ino was wearing that were hidden from sight by seals that Ami had created for Ino before the exam. Ino then quickly made the necessary hand seals and said, "Lighting release: shocking silver palms!" With that, Ino whipped her hands forward sending the now electrified wires towards Sasuke. Sasuke, who was too surprised that one of his annoying fangirls would actually attack him, was hit dead on by Ino's attack. The proud Uchiha was brought to his knees as he screamed in pain from the electric attack.

On seeing her opponent on his knees, Ino cut off the electricity flowing towards Sasuke. While some like Sakura might say that this was because Ino didn't want to hurt Sasuke; the fact of the matter was the shocking silver palms was a big Chakra draining Jutsu. Ino knew the limits of the amount of Chakra she could currently produce and had know that if she held that particular jutsu a second longer she wouldn't have enough Chakra to finish her plan.

Ino put her hands and fingers into the proper position for her final technique and yelled out. "Ninja Art: Mind body switch!" With that, Ino's body collapsed as a ball of energy containing part of her spirit slowly flew at Sasuke. Up in the stands, Naruto was silently praying that Ino's possession technique would reach Sasuke before the boy regained his senses. Also in the stands was the serpent himself Orochimaru. Orochimaru didn't want his future body to be beaten so easily; not when certain plans of his required the 'Last' Uchiha to be in the finals of the Chunin exams.

Orochimaru sent a small portion of his own Chakra into Sasuke's cursed seal. The pain of the seal partially, but not visibly, activating caused Sasuke to pay attention to his surroundings more. Sasuke saw Ino's mind-body switch attack coming at him and barely managed to duck away from the attack. He then rushed at Ino's defenseless body with rage visible in his eyes to anyone would could clearly look into them. The avenger then placed the heel of his foot on Ino's neck, placed a Kunai at the back of her head, turned to Gekko and said. "If you don't declare me the winner now, she dies."

Gekko hastily declared Sasuke the winner of that match in order to save Ino's life. Up in the observation level, three different people were thinking of the situation beyond the shock that most of the Genin held for the match. Sarutobi was deeply saddened that such a promising young ninja would be so callous towards a fellow Konoha ninja. Kakashi was saddened that his pupil would go to such lengths in order to win. However Kakashi assumed that it must be the influence of Orochimaru's seal on Sasuke, something that Kakashi was determined to fix ASAP. Orochimaru was pleased with how Sasuke was turning out to be and couldn't wait to see what the boy would do in the main part of the exams.

After Sasuke and Ino were lead off the field, Naruto had to fight a boy named Yoroi Akado. Yoroi was a bit of a challenge for Naruto in that the boy could absorb Chakra. In order to win, Naruto used an exploding Shadow Clone to knock his opponent out. Next fight was Kiba verses Sakura; that fight was no challenge for Kiba. Naruto only paid half-attention to the rest of the fights; just so that he knew what to expect out of his opponents.

However, there was one fight that really made his blood boil. The fight that made Naruto so angry was the fight between Hinata Hyuga and Neji Hyuga. Naruto was thoroughly disgusted at how Neji first tried to trash talk his way to victory. Both of the boys of Team Maelstrom cheered Hinata on allowing the shy girl to have the confidence to battle her more skilled opponent. However, the straw that broke the camels back for Naruto was when Neji went in for a killing blow right when Hinata wouldn't give up.

Naruto, Kiba, and the other winners of the preliminaries were called down to draw numbers after Hinata was taken to the ER. After everyone had gotten their numbers and shown them to the clerk, Sarutobi said. "Now then, the matches of the final part of the Chunin exam are as follows: Naruto Tsukino Verses Temari of the Sand, Sasuke Uchiha Verses Gaara of the Sand, Shino Aburame Verses Kankuro of the Sand, Kiba Inuzuka Verses Neji Hyuga, and finally Shikamaru Nara Verses Dosu Kinuta. You all have one month to train until the tournament, I hope you all do your villages proud. Dismissed"

* * *

Omake:

Naruto was walking down the hall of the Tsukino Clan house in his Moonlight Knight outfit. He really didn't want to do so but had at the request of Aunty Luna. As he neared the family room of the compound he heard the sounds of girls' voices before they suddenly grew quiet. Naruto then opened the door to the room finding it to be pitch-black. Naruto flipped on the lights to see Ami, Minako, Rei, Makoto, Hotaru, Huraka, Michiru, and Setsuna all sitting on a large Persian carpet. They were all dressed in clothes like the genie wore on I dream of genie that were in their fukus' colors.

Naruto was gapping in surprise as he said, "Wha? What's going on here and why are you girls dressed like that?!" At this Makoto got up, walked over to Naruto and smiled saying. "It's Halloween on Earth and all nine of us have been invited to a costume party. All of us girls got together and decided that we'll all go as a themed set." At this Naruto scratched his head and said, "Ah what theme?" At this Ami said, "Why as a Sultan and his concubines of course."


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own neither series that this fan fiction pays homage to. DO I NEED TO REPEAT MYSELF!!!! Oh and just so you know; any fights that I didn't change happened exactly how they did in actual series. Now that we've taken care of that little annoyance, on with the story.

Ino, Kiba, and Naruto were all heading down to the infirmary to check on Hinata. They had unanimously agreed that they would go check up on Hinata's condition before they went to look for Anko. Team Maelstrom didn't bother asking for directions because Akamaru had Hinata's scent memorized and the little ninja dog was walking in the lead. Akamaru lead them over to a plain door and promptly plopped himself in front of the door and wined piteously. Ino looked between the door, Akamaru, Kiba, and then back to the door. She then felt a tick start to develop as she said in frustration, "Kiba, teach Akamaru to signal us better next time." Ino then opened the door allowing Team Maelstrom to see inside.

At the exact center of the room was a plain bed with white sheets on it. Hinata was under the bed sheets looking more dead than alive. Her normally shy but caring eyes were closed showing that she was in a deep sleep. On the right side of the bed sat a worried Shikamaru and Choji, on the other side of the bed leaning against the wall was a fuming Asuma. All three guys immediately turned to face the door when they heard the sound of the door opening.

The conscious members of Team 8 realized from the worried faces of Team Maelstrom that they were worried about Hinata. Asuma, as if in acknowledgement of a silent question, nodded his head. Team Maelstrom then all entered the room closing the door behind them. There was an uncomfortable silence within the room until Kiba spoke up. "When do the doctors say that Hinata will be better?"

Asuma was the one who answered Kiba's question. Taking out his lit cigarette, Asuma almost growled out, "The doctors say that she'll be able to leave the hospital in two weeks. It will take another week after she's released before she'll be fit to handle light duty." On hearing this news, Team Maelstrom started leaking killing intent for a few minutes before they were able to calm down. After Team Maelstrom calmed down, Asuma looked strait into Naruto's eye and said, "Thank you Naruto. If it wasn't for you allowing that retainer of yours to work with the medical staff, I'm told that Hinata's condition would be far more critical. It's just a shame that Hotaru was exhausted from healing the other competitors or Hinata would in full health."

Naruto just shook his head before he responded to Asuma's statement. "There's no need to thank me for Hotaru's work. She wanted to learn how to use the part of her bloodline that allowed her to heal others to the best of her ability. What kind of a person would I be if I was to prevent a member of my family from pursuing such a noble goal? Still I'll pass on your thanks to Hotaru. Hotaru really needs to get use to people praising her abilities."

After the little exchanged between Asuma and Naruto, the room became quiet once more. The quiet however didn't last too long. Kiba slowly walked towards the bed until he was standing right next to Hinata's shoulder. Kiba placed his hand softly, but at the same time firmly, on Hinata's shoulder. Kiba then softy spoke and everyone in the room strained to hear his words. "I swear Hinata; I'll make that bastard pay for what he's done to you. Once I'm done with him, Neji will no longer be considered the pride of the Hyuga clan."

Kiba then slowly made his way back to his teammates ignoring the surprised looks coming from Choji and Asuma. Ino, who was closest to the door, then quietly opened the door. Then she, Naruto, and finally Kiba marched out of the room leaving Team 8 alone in peace. As soon as Ino had closed the door, Naruto took the lead of the team. Naruto was leading them out of the hospital and to the place he figured they could first expect Anko to be: the Dango stand. Both he and Kiba needed to talk to Anko about their training for the up coming tournament while Ino needed to plan what changes she should make in her training regime.

Team Maelstrom wasn't out of the lobby of the hospital when they met Anko who was looking for them as well. Anko took was look at her team and smiled. While Anko's smile usually was a signal to other Jonin to get out of doge, Anko's students could see her pride in them from the smile. Anko then said in her cheerful voice, "Well done all of you. Naruto and Kiba, I you won just like I was expecting you guys to do. Ino, I'm very impressed with how you handled your fight considering that the odds were against you."

Ino blushed from Anko's praise, she had been afraid that Anko would be mad that she had lost. Sticking her head up high, Ino then asked. "Anko, what's the plan for our training now? Are Naruto and Kiba going to get any extra help to prepare them for the tournament?" Both Naruto and Kiba looked from Ino to Anko and back to Ino before they locked eyes with each other. In their eyes both boys could see that they didn't like how Ino seemed to think that she would be left behind.

Anko just shook her head and said, "I can't train Naruto or Kiba. According to Chunin regulations a Jonin sensei with 2 or more students competing in the final round of the Chunin exam at the same time may not train any of the competing students. Supposedly this is to keep the students from having an 'unfair' knowledge of one of their competitor's styles. While there have been exemptions to the rule with on the said students is the last member of his clan; none of Team Maelstrom technically qualify for that exemption."

Ino and Kiba both understood what Anko was trying to get across to them. Naruto was the only fully qualified Ninja of the Tsukino Clan; he was also the only actual blood member of the Tsukino Clan. However, due to the Sailor Scouts being Naruto's retainers, it had apparently been ruled that Naruto didn't qualify for the exception. Naruto saw that Ino and Kiba were starting to feel sorry for him and decided to end it. "Thank you for tell us Anko. Just out of curiosity, are you allowed to suggest trainers for me and Kiba?"

Anko's smile got wider as she saw what Naruto was trying to do. Anko then cheerfully answer Naruto, "Yes I can Naruto. For the next month I'll be training Ino with the help of my friend Kurenai Yuhi. Kiba's best bet for a trainer would be either his mother or his sister Hana." However Anko's smile faded as she continued to speak. "Sadly Naruto, finding a teacher for you is a bit of a pickle. I was going to have Kakashi train you; but due to Orochimaru being spotted in the area, the council wants Kakashi to stick close to Sasuke for that boy's protection and training. The other Jonin that I know of who could help you out are all currently on long-term missions."

Anko saw Naruto's eyes lower slightly on hearing that she wasn't able to find a teacher for him like she was able to suggest one for Kiba. Anko then said, "Don't worry Naruto. Have you forgotten that you have all of your clan scrolls back in your family Library? That thing's almost 3/4ths the size of the village's public library and it's packed with information for you to learn. You have reasonable chakra control and know how to practice that to get better. Use those tools and spar with a few Chunin like Iruka; that should get you to a level to pass the final exam. If any of the people I want to train you become able to train you, I'll send them your way." After Anko's little speech to cheer Naruto up, the four members of Team Maelstrom parted ways.

* * *

Temari was asleep on her bed in her room at the hotel. All the lights were out, but if one could see her they would find Temari restlessly rolling around on her bed. Once and awhile Temari gave out a loud moan, but not load enough for her teammates to hear her in the next room. Suddenly Temari's eyes shot open and she bolted to a sitting position on her mattress. Temari took a few deep breaths before she ran her fingers through her hair.

With her fingers still in her hair, Temari brought her elbows to rest on her now propped up knees. Temari then started to talk to herself in an angry and yet scared tone. "What's going on Temari old girl? You've never had dreams like this before; don't let it get to you!" Temari then let her head fall back onto the pillow before she continued to talk to herself about the dream. "Why now? Why of all the guys you know did it have to be HIM?"

Temari closed her eyes and thought back to what she had dreamed. Temari's dream had started off at an oasis about 5 miles east of Suna. She knew the oasis's location because it was her favorite place to go to whenever she needed to get away from Suna. It was night at the oasis with no clouds in the sky and the new moon faintly visible due to earthshine. She could even now feel the soft cool winds that were gently blowing around her in her dreams.

In the dream Temari had, as she loved to do when alone at that oasis, been in the middle of taking a bath. Temari recalled hearing her name being called by someone; someone that she felt drawn to. She had then rose out of the oasis and, while completely forgetting her clothes, started walking out into the deeper part of the desert. The still warm sand on the ground was comforting to her as she walked. She had eventually reached a small white tent with an opened door flap. Temari's dream self had almost rushed inside the tent as soon as she saw it.

In the real world, Temari's cheeks started to turn red as she started to remember what had happened further in the dream. She had in her dream, as soon as she had entered the tent, found that she was wrapped up in a pair of strong arms. She and then turned to passionately kiss the young man to whom the arms belonged. What the two of them had proceeded to do with and for each other in the dream made Temari's real body turn red in embarrassment. But the thing about the dream that really got to Temari was that her 'lover' in the dream was none other than Naruto Tsukino.

Temari got so frustrated with herself that she threw off the blankets and with only her light pink pajamas on, marched out onto her room's balcony. She then leaned her elbows on the railing in such a way that her arms were propped up, folded her fingers together, and rested her chin on her folded hands. Without moving her head, Temari shifted her gaze over to the almost full moon hanging in the sky. Normally looking at the Moon relaxed Temari, but now it only reminded her of Naruto.

Letting out a sigh of exasperation, Temari shook her head and started to talk to herself. "What is with me? I mean, I've only spent an hour max with the kid and I can't get him out of my head. Sure, he was friendly towards me and he seems to know what he's doing as a ninja. His victory in the preliminaries and his analysis of his teammates' chances show that well enough. But that doesn't explain why he's on my mind so much; and now to make it worse, he's showing up in my dreams! Why is that?"

* * *

It had been three days since Naruto had returned home from the Forest of Death and the second part of the Chunin exams. All 7 members of the Tsukino Clan were sitting down at the dinner table enjoying breakfast. Naruto was really enjoying it because Makoto had whipped up something called 'chocolate waffles' that he had never had before. As Makoto watched Naruto dig into the waffles on his plate with gusto, a tiny smile appeared on her face.

Luna, who had been carefully watching the Scouts and Naruto closely, was busy thinking about what she was seeing happen in front of her. Although she was still leery at the idea of Naruto having more than one wife, was starting to accept the idea. Luna also had a good idea of who at least two of Naruto's future wives would be. One need only look at Ami or Makoto to see that they falling hard for whiskered prince. Also, Luna could see that her 'little' nephew was growing very close to the two girls. Naruto's more than platonic concern for those two senshi was visible in his eyes even if he himself hadn't realized how deeply he cared about the girls yet.

As breakfast when on, Luna started to let her thoughts drift about the situation between Naruto, Makoto, and Ami. The matchmaker part of her started to wonder how the two girls would both get together with Naruto. If Luna's guess was right, Makoto and Naruto would be the first to get together. Knowing their personalities, Makoto would be the one to confront Naruto about their shared feelings and start off their courtship. Ami on the other hand, would most likely need a push from Makoto to confess her feelings to Naruto.

Looking over to Hotaru and Setsuna, Luna could see their amusement at the drama starting to develop in front of them. Hotaru, as she had confessed to Luna, had started to see Naruto as a 'big brother' to her even though she was actually a month or so older then him. Through the strange workings of people in the Tsukino home, had somehow found herself in the position of 'Aunt' to the younger Scouts and Naruto. Setsuna, to the surprise to those that knew her on Earth, took her new position in the family with a little amusement and several big smiles.

What made Luna all the happier when she saw everyone eating together was the fact that she knew that things would be like this for a long time. When Naruto had arrived home three days ago, each of the scouts had come to him separately and told him that they wanted to stay in Konoha and help him. The look of pure happiness on Naruto's face when he was told that news reminded Luna of the few times she had been able to afford a birthday present for Naruto that he had really wanted. Only Ikuko, understandably, was going to return to Earth once the spell could be used. However, Ikuko had promised to visit Naruto.

Suddenly Luna stopped her train of thought as her ears picked up something interesting that Ami was saying to everyone. "-As I was saying, from my calculations and the material I've gleamed from the library, it can work. Sure it would take me several months or even years before I could do it completely on my own, but that's only if I do everything by myself. If we were to stumble across a willing and capable Seal Master, this seal array that I've designed could be completed in a month or two. With my seal array placed near the Time Gates, we could cast the trans-dimensional spell once or maybe even twice a day!"

Setsuna was the first to respond to Ami's little impromptu speech by saying, "That's amazing Ami. With your seal array we could move back and forth between Konoha and Tokyo depending on which place needed the Scouts' help the most. Also, do you realize that we could also use your array to start trade between Earth and the Elemental Countries? However, I personally would suggest against such a course of action; at least for the moment. Trying to set up a trade route between Earth and the Elemental Countries for anything besides for the Tsukino Clan would cause lots of problems that we are ill-equipped to handle at the moment."

Naruto, who had finished his waffles and was a little sad that there wasn't anymore, just looked up at Ami and smiled at her causing Ami's cheeks to be tinted with a hint of blush. Naruto then started to up his thoughts on Ami's seal array idea, "Great idea Ami! This seal array of yours is just amazing. It completely puts my father's work to shame and he's hailed as the best Seal Master who ever lived. Once you get enough practice to be able to create your seals in real life you'll have every Seal Master on the continent wanting to be trained by you!" Ami bowed her head to try and hide the blush that was now completely covering her cheeks from Naruto.

A minute latter, Ikuko put her fork and knife down on her plate and asked everyone at the table, "So what are your plans for today?" Naruto stated that he was going to go and see if Iruka could spar with him for a while. Hotaru quietly told everyone that she was going to take a shift at the hospital as well as pick up some new study material. Apparently the Head of the Hospital had decided to give her all of Kabuto Yakushi's medical books after the revealed spy had left Konoha. Ami was going to practice actually creating some of the basic seals that she was learning about instead of just figuring out what could be done with the Mercury computer to model a hypothetical seal for her. Makoto said that she was going to practice her Chakra control and work on a few D-ranked jutsus. Luna was going to go to a Clan meeting that Sarutobi had called for some reason. Only Setsuna and Ikuko herself didn't mention what they were planning to do for the day. With that, everyone left do go do what they wanted to do.

* * *

Naruto was walking through Konoha without a real destination in mind. He had gone to Iruka's house to ask his old teacher if he wouldn't mind a spar. Unfortunately for Naruto, Iruka was up to his eyeballs in homework that needed to be graded and turned in to the principal by the end of the day. Therefore, it was with a heavy heart that the scared Chunin was forced to ask Naruto to leave.

Thus Naruto was left to just wander around Konoha just trying to think of what he should do. True, he could go back home and study some more jutsus from his family library; but what would be the point? Just knowing a lot of jutsus did not guarantee a person victory, it was how a ninja integrated his jutsus into his fighting style and his knowing when to apply his jutsus to a situation that lead to victory. Even Kakashi Hatake, who was said to have copied over a 1000 jutsu, only used between 10-15 jutsus in his vast collection regularly.

No, what Naruto needed was not a large number of jutsus but rather a competent sensei to help him improve. A sensei that could look at what Naruto was doing and could give him pointers on what he needed to correct. Say what you will about Anko, but to Naruto she was a grade-A sensei. She may not have actually taught him any techniques besides water walking, but she had helped him see the holes in his ability and had been able to offer him great advice on what he could do to fix those holes. Sadly do to the Chunin exam rules Anko temporarily couldn't teach him and all of Anko's friends that could help him were unavailable. Naruto almost cursed his luck, it wasn't like he was going to just bump into a person that could help him prepare.

Naruto wasn't looking where he was going and accidentally ran into someone who was walking in his direction. Knocked out of his self-pitying thoughts, Naruto turned around to face the person he had walked into and called out, "Sorry for walking into you sir." Naruto turn to get a better look at the person behind him that he had hit. The man was facing away from Naruto and was wearing a leather patchwork cloak. Naruto started to get a sinking feeling that he knew who it was that he had walked into. The man called out, "Yes, you should be sorry that you walked into me-" the man turned around so that Naruto could see his face. Looking strait in to Naruto's eyes, G'Kar continued, "You should be more aware of your surroundings, Young Storm."

Naruto felt his body unconsciously shifting to a defensive stance. G'Kar noticed Naruto's movement and had to keep a smirk from showing on his face. The young man in front of him was shaping up to be what he needed to be. However there was something in Naruto's eyes that bothered G'Kar, something that demanded that G'Kar spend more time with Naruto. However, before G'Kar could find out what he wanted to know, he would need to get Naruto to open up to him. This would probably been a little tricky considering how they first met.

G'Kar slowly opened his hands so that Naruto could see that he was not going to immediately attack the boy. G'Kar then said in his usual merry and slightly humorous voice, "Calm down Young Storm, you're causing a scene. I assume that you're worried about whether or not I'll attack you. Don't worry, that mission is behind us both. Besides, this is Konoha. Do you think that your gate guards would let me into the village if I was here to cause trouble? I'll even show you my visitor's pass if that is what it will take."

Naruto narrowed his eyes even as he relaxed his guard. He then said to G'Kar in a firm, but not hostile tone, "No offense, but the last time we met we were in a death match after you sent all those bandits for me and my teammates to kill. Don't take it too personally if I find myself a little wary around you for the time being." Seeing that G'Kar hadn't made any hostile actions towards him or any civilians, Naruto was willing to give G'Kar the benefit of the doubt. It after all wasn't that uncommon for ninjas to fight each other in one mission and then have to work together in a later mission. Getting out of his relaxed defensive stance Naruto said in a more neutral tone, "I'll trust you not to harm anyone in this village. Break my trust, and I'll do everything in my power to have you hunted down and killed."

G'Kar's face broke out into a small smile. While a civilian may have thought that G'Kar and Naruto were personal enemies from how Naruto spoke to him, both ninjas knew better. They had simply recognized that each was a former opponent to be respected and an opponent that they could now be on respectful, if not friendly, terms with. Without the guarded battle ready mask on Naruto's face, G'Kar could see that something was obviously bothering Naruto. Remembering that the Chunin exam finals were being held in a month and that Naruto's name was on the list of competitors, G'Kar made a guess at what was bothering Naruto. Going out on a limb G'Kar asked in a friendly and genuinely concerned tone, "What's wrong Young Storm? Is there something with the upcoming tournament that is bothering you?"

Naruto thought about G'Kar's question for a moment. It was true that his lack of a sensei to help him out was really bothering him, but should he reveal this fact to G'Kar? Naruto thought hard about this for a moment. G'Kar was powerful and a skilled fighter, of this Naruto knew for a fact. Also it seemed that G'Kar was apparently genuinely concerned about what was bugging Naruto. On the other hand, G'Kar was not from Konoha and had fought against Naruto. Naruto quickly disregarded that fact as he had long ago vowed to give people a fair chance and G'Kar fighting for the Narn's beliefs could not be held against the main in front of him.

Finally, just when G'Kar was starting to get worried about Naruto due to his lack of response, Naruto calmly spoke. "Yes G'Kar, there is something that is bothering me. You see, due to the fact that I have a teammate who has also made it to the finals, my regular sensei can't teach me until after the tournament is over. Unfortunately, my sensei Anko can't find someone to help me with my training do to the fact that all of the people she would send me to are unavailable." Naruto's voice held only the faintest hints of the sadness that this fact caused him.

Even though Naruto tried to hide his sadness from G'Kar, the experienced ninja was able to pick up on this fact. G'Kar thought about Naruto's situation for just a second, just a second to go over what he was about to say, before G'Kar opened his mouth. "Naruto, I know that we don't know each other every well, but would you mind if I was to help train you until the Chunin Tournament?"

G'Kar's offer surprised Naruto because he never expected G'Kar to do anything about his situation except offer condolences. Naruto's eyes started to widen as hope and joy started to grow with Naruto's heart. After his encounter with G'Kar, Naruto had done some research on the Narn clansman. Naruto's research had revealed that G'Kar was widely hailed by many shinobi throughout the Elemental Countries as an equal to any of the Sannin. The chance to learn under such a ninja would really help Naruto out in the Chunin exam and Naruto knew it. Still, dealing with angry civilians when he was younger had made Naruto cautious of offers of help from people he didn't know well. Therefore, Naruto asked, "You would really train me G'Kar?"

G'Kar nodded his head before he answered in his slightly energetic manner, "Of course Young Storm. Even without your very impressive bloodline powers, you have unimaginable power sleeping within you. To help awaken that talent and power that sleeps within you, well that will be something for me to brag about years from now. You may not know it Naruto, but a Kha'Ri is expected to help all the less skilled members of the Narn Clan. As an ally of the Narn Clan due to the circumstances of our last meeting, my training you can not be argued against in a court by any people that may be against it." G'Kar then stuck his hand out for Naruto to shake it, closing the deal on him training Naruto.

Naruto let out a bright carefree smile before he reached out and firmly grasped G'Kar's offered hand. The new student and sensei shook their hands twice before letting go of the handshake. Naruto then looked up into G'Kar's red eyes and said with fire in his eyes, "So G'Kar, where do you want to go to start my training?"

G'Kar said with a slight chuckle in his voice, "Calm down Young Storm, we'll get to your training soon enough. First thing's first though; we need to go and find a friend of mine in this village. He'll be helping me train you. After we get my friend, we will all go to a training field and you and I will have a spar. You won't be allowed to use your bloodline for the spar though; it will simply be your own power and skill."

Naruto nodded his head, fully agreeing to what G'Kar was telling him. It was great in Naruto's mind that G'Kar was going to train him and that G'Kar was taking his training so seriously. Also have another trainer help him, even if the other person turned out to only be a Chunin, was a big plus in Naruto's mind.

G'Kar then started to walk down the road and Naruto quickly followed next to his new sensei. About five minutes of walking after the deal was struck, Naruto felt his curiosity get the best of him so he asked, "So G'Kar, who are we looking for?" G'Kar then turned his head to look down at Naruto and said, "We're looking for an old friend of mine. Perhaps you have heard of him, his name is Jiraiya."

Author's Notes: Here we are, just finished with Chapter 8. I'm glad that everyone was sending in reviews for this story and that people seem to enjoy it. In regards to the second polls being run for this series I have decided to close it down. The Gaara/Hotaru match-up was completely unopposed, poor Shino that boy's luck hasn't allowed him to land the girl this time. Also I have decided, and the majority wants this as well, to go with a Setsuna/Kakashi pairing. Both of these secondary parings will be only really start to come about after Naruto 'officially' has his harem of Temari, Ino, Ami, and Makoto. Just a thought for you guys to think about should I have Temari and Naruto find out about a cliché political marriage between Suna and Konoha involving the two of them or not?


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: the only things that I have even a remote claim too are the things that haven't happened in canon. This isn't a hard concept to understand. Someone was curious as to the Chakra affinities of Naruto's future wives. Ami: civilian- water, senshi-ice, Makoto: civilian- wood, senshi-lighting, Temari- wind, Ino- fire. I know some people might be wondering why I have wood as Makoto's civilian Chakra affinity instead of this being her senshi affinity. I did that because her last name means 'of wood' and the fact that lighting shows up more prominently in her senshi attacks that I could find then things that can be related to wood do. Enough of this, lets get back to the story.

Naruto and G'Kar were walking down one of the many roads of Konoha in the direction G'Kar said would take them to Jiraiya. As the euphoria of having not one but two teachers help him prepare for the Chunin exams wore off, Naruto started to pay closer attention to the area around him. For a second or two Naruto was lost as to where they were, but then his internal map of Konoha figured out their location. Even as he kept up his pace Naruto turned to G'Kar and said, "Uh, why are we heading in this direction? I mean, this part of town only has souvenir stores and public baths; and like a ton of those baths happen to be girls' only baths."

G'Kar looked down at his new student and with a bit of embarrassment somehow showing on his reptilian skin said, "That's true Naruto. You see Jiraiya is an extremely powerful ninja. However, he has a, shall we say, great fondness for some of the finer things in life; at least it is a far greater appreciation then most men will show for the finer things in life. Also, Jiraiya sadly has a rather unrefined way of showing his appreciation of the finer things in life."

Now Naruto prided himself on his logical deduction abilities and so was able to read between the lines at what G'Kar was saying to him. Narrowing his eyes Naruto said, "So your telling me that Jiraiya is a big pervert who is most likely spying on some girls' while their at the baths." G'Kar's only response to Naruto's question was to nod his head to show that Naruto had hit the nail on the head. Naruto then quietly uttered with venom in his voice, "If he comes near Makoto, Ami, or any girl I know; I'll geld him with a frozen dull electrified spoon."

G'Kar winced in sympathy for Jiraiya when he heard what Naruto was promising to do to the frog sannin. G'Kar then said with a nervous chuckle, "I'm sure that won't be necessary Young Storm." G'Kar then noticed a bench over by the side of the road only a few feet in front of the duo. Clasping his hands together G'Kar then said in his usual energetic voice, "A thought just occurred to me Naruto. You see, Jiraiya tends to be a bit grumpy when unknown people interrupt him to ask him for something. Why don't you go and sit down while I go and get Jiraiya. If we do things this way it should be quicker for us to get Jiraiya to help train you."

Naruto nodded his head and headed over to the bench on the side of the road. Sitting down on the stone bench Indian style Naruto waited for G'Kar to retrieve Jiraiya. As he waited for his trainers to show up, Naruto thought about his first match in the exams. Temari of the desert was defiantly a real ninja and not one of the many 'fake' ninjas that a lot of the girls entering the academy nowadays seemed to be. The way she carried herself and the way she fought against her opponent in the preliminaries showed that she was good at her area of expertise in the ninja arts and she knew it.

Thinking back to Temari's fight, Naruto focused on what he could figure out about the Suna wind mistress as an opponent. Even with the most conservative estimate of her skills, Naruto figured that Temari must have mastered C-ranked wind jutsus. Her taijutsu skill level was unknown and Temari probably favored long range fights over hand-to-hand conflicts. Still, even if her skill level was unknown, Naruto figured he would have to be careful when fighting her up close. A Suna battle fan was usually between 25-40 pounds in weight and Temari was able to use her battle fan to blow away Tenten's weapons without seeming to move. That was an obvious sign that Temari had to have more then average, but almost certainly not Tsunade like, strength.

Naruto stopped his analysis of Temari's fighting abilities when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Looking up the road Naruto could see G'Kar talking to a man with long white hair. Naruto hopped off the bench and approached G'Kar and his companion that was logically Jiraiya. Stopping a few feet in front of the duo, Naruto said in a calm and friendly voice, "So I take it G'Kar that this fellow with you is Jiraiya." G'Kar nodded his head to answer Naruto's question.

There was a moment of silence between the two master ninjas and Naruto after G'Kar nodded his head. Jiraiya took this time to analyze Naruto and compare what he had heard about the boy with what he saw before him. Looking into Naruto's eyes, Jiraiya could see the same drive that Minato had possessed along with a hint of the kindness that Usagi was renowned for. Naruto's stance and body posture, friendly as it was, was capable of switching over to combat in a moment's notice. It was obvious to Jiraiya that Anko and Naruto himself had done a great job in Naruto's training.

Jiraiya then thought about how he could best tell Naruto that he would train the kid. From what Jiraiya had heard, Naruto didn't want to be given something just because of who is parents were. A very admirable trait in Jiraiya's opinion, but it could possibly cause a bit of trouble when Naruto figured out that he had trained the boy's father. Deciding that it would be best not to show one way or the other that he knew Naruto's father, Jiraiya let loose a small grin and said, "Your right G'Kar, this boy does have a lot of promise in him. I don't mind helping you train this kid when I'm not out doing research."

Even though Naruto knew that Jiraiya was a pervert, Naruto didn't like how obvious Jiraiya was about it. Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit and he said in a firm tone, "I don't mind the fact that you're obviously a pervert. The goddess knows that practically every other guy over 16 in Konoha has a subscription to Playninja and or Icha Icha Paradise. However," and at this point Naruto's voice got very hostile, "If you so much an attempt to peak at any of my retainers or my friends; I'll turn you into a piñata and invite the entire Ninja Women's Association over to pound you!"

Jiraiya then pouted for a second before he did his funny dance and said, "You've got it all wrong Naruto. I am not a pervert, I am a SUPER PERVERT!!" A chill ran down Jiraiya's back and said self proclaimed super pervert looked over to Naruto. Naruto's eyes were like blue daggers glaring killing intent at Jiraiya. The last time Jiraiya had felt a chill as bad as Naruto was giving him was when Usagi had discovered that he was the author of Icha Icha Paradise. Not wanting to chance a repeat of the hellish torture that Usagi had given him that day; Jiraiya put up his hands in a motion of surrender. Jiraiya then said, "Don't worry Naruto; I won't use any of your friends or retainers in my research." The killing intent being directed towards Jiraiya rapidly disappeared after Jiraiya spoke.

G'Kar almost swiped his forehead in relief that Naruto and Jiraiya managed to reach an agreement. Jiraiya may be his friend, but G'Kar was sure that Jiraiya's ways would get the perverted sannin killed one of these days. Now it was time to move onto more important things like starting Naruto's training. G'Kar then was able to quickly convince Naruto and Jiraiya to let him pick the training ground. Just to make sure that there would be no troubles G'Kar set out to lead the three of them over to a field that G'Kar was sure wouldn't have any distractions near by.

* * *

Ami was currently sitting at one of the desks in the 'Sealing Room' in the Tsukino home. Spread out across her desk were two dozen papers all with a single seal image drawn on them many times. For the past two days Ami had been drawing images of a seal that she had recently thought up so that she wouldn't mess up when she created the seal for real. Ami had felt the need to practice drawing the seal she had modeled on the Mercury computer because it was more advance then a simple storage scroll seal or an explosive note seal.

Finally Ami thought that she was ready to try and create the seal for real. There was a part of her that was nervous about accidentally messing up the seal but Ami knew that she had gotten the seal image done correctly 10 times in a row. Also Ami knew that she had the necessary Chakra and Chakra control needed to make the seal. Makoto and Ami had both managed to get their Chakra control up to high gennin levels due to practicing Chakra control after they both had a morning spar. Not many people knew it, but Ami could have qualified for a black belt in Aikido if she had bothered to take the test for it. There was no reason for Ami to have any worries about her sealing abilities. Even Jiraiya had told Ami that she was shaping up to be an excellent seal mistress; and due to the threats levied against his 'best friends', Jiraiya wasn't commenting on Ami's figure.

Ami decided that it was time for her to start on her little sealing project. First, Ami made sure that the door was closed and locked so she wouldn't be disturbed while she worked. Ami then cleared all of her seal drawings off of the table except for one piece of paper that had a single copy of the seal drawn on it. Next, Ami opened a drawer of the desk she was at and took out a container of pre-made sealing ink and a paint brush. After setting the paint brush and the ink on the desk, Ami carefully brought out a pair of leather gloves. Finally Ami was ready to begin her work and promptly set about creating the seals on the gloves.

The seal, which was more like a seal array that Ami was placing on the gloves, functioned similarly to the seals found on a plain old sealing scroll. Attached to all the fingertips of gloves were thin wires. Each wire was a little over 150 feet in length and was VERY sharp. The seal that Ami was applying to the gloves would allow the wearer to instantly seal and unseal the razor wire with only a little bit of Chakra applied. Also, the seal had the added bonus of making it easier for the wearer to more easily reinforce the wires with the user's Chakra.

Ami intended for Ino to have the first pair of Death Angel Gloves that were successfully made. Ino had been very pleased with Ami's original wire pouches creation and had asked if there was anyway to improve on the idea. The two girls had, during Ino's lunch break from training with Anko, gone over what they wanted the upgraded wire pouches to do. The end result was the Death Angel Gloves that Ami was working on at the moment.

Ami had just finished the seal on one of the gloves when a tear started to roll down her cheek. It was only yesterday that Ami had realized something of immense importance to her: she loved Naruto. However as soon as Ami had realized this important fact, she had become mildly depressed. Why would Naruto even bother to look at her in a romantic way when he had Ino, any of the other strong ninja girls of Konoha, or even Makoto available? Ami had always been passed over by the guys in school for the more pretty and 'talented' girls. Even though Ami knew that Naruto really didn't care about things like that in a girl; Ami figured that eventually one of the more attractive girls in the village would catch Naruto. Personally Ami would have placed her money on Ino winning Naruto's heart.

Ami didn't hold any hatred towards Ino for the fact that it looked to Ami that Ino would win Naruto's heart. Ino was a wonderful person in Ami's opinion and Ino was sort of like a mix of Minako and Rei in her personality. Naruto needed to have a wife and at least Ino would make Naruto happy, or so Ami believed. The senshi of Mercury wasn't about to try and get between Naruto and Ino developing a relationship. Ami remembered all too well the tragedy that happened because Beryl caused by trying to get between Endymion and Serenity.

Such a tragedy wouldn't be repeated here if Ami had any say in the matter. Even if Naruto never returned her love, that didn't mean that Ami couldn't love Naruto. Ami knew that she had chosen a difficult road to walk, but there was no other choice in Ami's mind. Ami was determined to insure that Naruto got what he wanted in life and had his happiness. Already, Ami could see herself as she spent the rest of her life working towards that goal. Using her intelligence to create seals and other inventions to help Naruto and helping to protect those that Naruto held dear was something that Ami didn't mind doing forever.

* * *

Hotaru was currently making her rounds at one of the wings of the Konoha Hospital. It might have been a surprise to anyone who had known her back on Earth but Hotaru currently had a great big smile on her face. For the first time since her mother had died all those years ago Hotaru was truly happy. Everyday as she worked at the hospital Hotaru became even happier then she had been the day before.

Deciding to come to the elemental countries was the best decision that Hotaru could remember making. The people in Konoha, even though there still a few people that were hostile towards Naruto and by extension herself, really appreciated her. One of the great things about Konoha in Hotaru's mind was that no one hated her for her special healing abilities. Instead, everyone that had heard of her abilities was actually thanking her for having such a gift. There were dozens of instances that Hotaru could recall off the top of her head where her powers had been able to heal an old wound of a ninja or saved someone from being permanently disabled. The doctors at the hospital were helping her develop her healing powers to their greatest strength possible.

Pushing a tray loaded with food for the patents, Hotaru approached the next room on her round. Hotaru felt sorry for the poor boy that was staying in the room she was visiting. Rock Lee was a rather sweet boy even if he was over exuberant and known to go into scary speeches about the 'powers of youth.' Thoughts of that creepy sunset that he had somehow summoned when he wasn't supposed to be able to use Genjutsu along with the poses Lee had done still scared Hotaru. Actually the Sailor Scouts had been so shocked by Lee and Guy's sunset illusion that the Scouts had permanently banned any Scout poses or speeches. Luna had broken out into song and dance when she heard that the poses and speeches were laid to rest by the Sailor Scouts; although Luna did feel sorry that the Scouts were subjected to that form of torture.

Rock Lee's medical condition really upset Hotaru. There were several small bone fragments next to Lee's spinal cord making it so that he could potentially sever his own spinal cord if Lee moved around too much. The Head Surgeon of the hospital had, after personally examining Lee, declared that no operation for removing the bone fragments was to be attempted. Privately Hotaru had asked why no operation was to be attempted as she could use her powers to heal any extra damage that might be caused in the operation. The Head Surgeon had sadly told Hotaru that even with her there to heal Lee, there was no one at the hospital that the Head Surgeon was sure had the necessary skills to do the operation and have Lee live.

As Hotaru approached Lee's room, she felt the slightly suffocating aura of killing intent coming from Lee's room. Fearing for Lee's life, Hotaru abandoned the cart she was pushing and ran into the room. When Hotaru opened the door, she saw Gaara standing in the middle of the room directing his sand towards Lee's unconscious form. For a split second, Hotaru was afraid for her own life. She had been on hand at the tower during the preliminaries and had witnessed Gaara's power and ruthlessness first hand.

However, that fear quickly evaporated into anger at Gaara. With bravo that Hotaru never expected, she glared at Gaara and hissed out, "What the hell do you think you're doing?! The fight between you two has been over for several days. Get out now before I have security throw you out!" Unconsciously Hotaru summoned just a minuscule bit of her senshi energy. As soon as Hotaru summoned her energy, Gaara's sand started slowly crawling back towards Gaara.

Gaara was completely confused as to what was going on around him. He had been only moments away from proving his existence by eradicating his last opponent from existence when this nurse barged in. At first, Gaara planning on simply killing the nurse as well as his last opponent; all the more blood for mother. However, the nurse started demanding to know what he was doing. Such a thing had never happened to him in Gaara's memories. As long as Gaara could remember, nothing had been denied to him; everyone had always been too terrified of him to try and stop him.

To make the whole situation even more confusing and even terrifying to Gaara, his 'mother' was no longer talking to him. For years Gaara was used to the whisperings of his 'mother' telling him what to do; her telling him who to kill in order to make her happy. Those whisperings were a source of strength to Gaara, always urging him on to prove his existence. The sudden loss of those whisperings made Gaara feel venerable and weak. In a desperate attempt to return the whisperings of his 'mother', Gaara stared directly into Hotaru's eyes.

Inside of her eyes Gaara could see the loneliness that he was all too familiar with. Gaara could also see the happiness and joy that Hotaru had found in her life that he himself hadn't found in his. Finally Gaara saw Hotaru's determination to protect Rock Lee from any attacks. The look in Hotaru's eyes, plus the fact that 'Mother's' whisperings hadn't returned, was quickly cutting through Gaara's mental defenses to reach scared little boy that he had tried so hard to forget. Scared at having to face that part of him that he had buried so long ago; Gaara body-flickered away from the room and Hotaru.

* * *

Naruto walked into the Tsukino Clan house as the sun set, covered in sweat mixed with dirt, and practically dead on his feet. For the past month G'Kar and Jiraiya had been training him to the bone every day. From breakfast till noon Naruto trained with G'Kar in 'applied ninja skills'. 'Applied ninja skills' seem to Naruto to be just a fancy phrase for 'beat Naruto like a drum.' G'Kar would spar fiercely with Naruto and made Naruto try and fight each fight with a random handicap that G'Kar chose at the start of the spar. Also, G'Kar and Jiraiya had absolutely forbidden the use of Naruto's senshi powers during Naruto's training. Both of the elder ninjas had stated that Naruto had enough control of the Moonlight Knight form for now and that Naruto needed to concentrate on building up his base skills.

If Naruto at first thought that he was lucky to get away from G'Kar after a quick lunch, he was only fooling himself. Jiraiya, perverted to the core he may be, was a very harsh taskmaster when properly motivated. For his training, Jiraiya mostly had Naruto practice his seal speed, Chakra control while being asked tactical questions and rarely a jutsu that Jiraiya had felt Naruto should learn. Except for the summoning jutsu with the Toads, all the jutsu Jiraiya had taught Naruto were D to C rank. Naruto, especially after he saw that his father had signed the Toad contract, was eager to be able to summon the toads. However except for the one time he was allowed to transform into Moonlight Knight in order to talk to Gamabunta, Naruto could only seem to summon Gamakichi. Still even if he couldn't fight yet, Gamakichi was very useful as a spy for Naruto. Even as painful as the training was, Naruto happily went back to G'Kar and Jiraiya every day for more.

Since the Chunin exam was only three days away, G'Kar and Jiraiya had ended Naruto's training. Naruto had been told that for now he needed to rest and under no conditions short of an invasion was he to do more than a mild workout in order to keep his edge. The thought of just relaxing was very appealing to Naruto after working so long non stop. Walking though the house on the way to his room, Naruto noticed the time on a clock on the wall. Since according to the clock it would be at least an hour until dinner was to be served, Naruto decided to head out into the onsen and take a good through bath.

Naruto walked out into the onsen area of the Tsukino property and saw that no one was currently using the onsen. Naruto slowly divested himself of his torn up training uniform and happily entered into the bath. The water was just as warm and soothing as Naruto had expected it to be. For a few minutes Naruto just stood there in the middle of the onsen; letting himself get lost in the feeling of the hot water. Naruto was brought back to reality when he heard the sound of someone nearing him.

Taking a steep into the shallower part of the onsen and turning around, Naruto found himself staring at Makoto who was currently in a towel and standing on the steeps into the onsen. While Naruto was looking at Makoto, Makoto let her towel fall back behind her onto the stone steeps. Makoto then calmly steeped into the onsen until the water came up to her mid waist. As Makoto was approaching him, Naruto just stood where he was in shock. It made no sense to Naruto that Makoto was there in the onsen with him. Besides the obvious question of why Makoto would want to be in the onsen at the same time as him, Naruto could have sworn that Makoto was in the kitchen cooking dinner!

Naruto then remembered that grandma Ikuko was going to be heading back to Earth tomorrow in order to be there for his uncle Shingo when his uncle got ready for his first day of high school. Ikuko had wanted to do something special for Naruto because she couldn't be there for his Chunin exam and had insisted on making dinner alone. That fact in Naruto's mind explained why Makoto was not in the kitchen as she usually liked to be at this time of day. However it didn't explain why Makoto was in the BATH WITH HIM.

Makoto, who was seemingly oblivious to the confusion she was causing, picked up a bar of soap and smiled. Makoto then walked closer to Naruto and said, "Just relax Naruto. You've had a very taxing day of training; anyone can see that Naruto." Naruto then felt a warm soapy hand touch his shoulder blades. Makoto then place her other hand, which held the bar of soap, onto Naruto's back. While she was in the process of scrubbing Naruto's back, Makoto said "Naruto, you'll wear yourself out and be in no condition for the tournament if you keep up with the pace your at. I know that you have even greater self-healing abilities then the rest of the senshi, but you shouldn't be using those particular parts of the senshi powers every day."

With Makoto at his back and voicing her worries about him letting his muscles get enough rest; Naruto was able to forget about the fact that the two of them were both nude. Focusing on Makoto's words, Naruto said, "Don't worry about that Makoto. G'Kar and Jiraiya have both told me to just relax and take it easy until the tournament." As if in response to Naruto's statement Makoto started to massage his muscles while she washed them. Then with a sense of genuine curiosity in his voice Naruto ask, "Makoto, at breakfast today you mentioned that Anko was going to be testing you today to see how your non-senshi skills were at. How did you do?"

Although Naruto naturally couldn't see it, Makoto's face was sporting a heavy blush. A part of Makoto still couldn't believe that she could be so bold as to be where she was right now. At the same time there was another part of Makoto that couldn't stop smirking in joy at a successful plan going off. Earlier Makoto had spotted Naruto wearily walking over to the onsen and had been genuinely concerned about his state. She had made the snap decision to join him in the onsen in order to both help him relax after a very hard day of training and to show him that she really cared about his state of being. If Naruto should just happen to enjoy the scenery as she took care of his aching muscles; all the better for her in the long run of winning a spot in Naruto's heart.

After Makoto had read about the 'situation' that Naruto had found himself in, she had been determined to be one of the girls with Naruto. It didn't matter to Makoto whither Naruto made her one of his wives or just had her as a concubine as long as Naruto loved her. However Makoto was personally shooting for a spot as one of Naruto's wives. Hearing Naruto's concern for how she was doing, plus the look of appreciation he had in his eyes when he first saw her body made it clear to Makoto that she well on her way to achieving her goal. With her usual friendly voice Makoto answered Naruto. "I passed Anko's test with flying colors. Anko rated my skill without transforming as overall mid to high genin. In fact, Anko recommended that I join the ninja reserve force."

Naruto listened to what Makoto told him very eagerly. He had watched Makoto and the other scouts practice the various ninja arts and he was very impressed with all of their progress. The fact that Makoto was judged by Anko to be that skilled after only a month and a half of training really impressed Naruto. Naruto suddenly had the impulse to whip around and give Makoto a bone crushing hug. Luckily, or not depending on your point of view, Naruto held that impulse firmly in check. Instead Naruto said with his joy obvious in his voice, "That's great news Makoto! Makoto, if you want you can sign up for the ninja reserves if you want to do so."

Makoto started washing Naruto's chest muscles and was pleased to see that Naruto was mostly looking into her eyes. To Makoto's secret pleasure, she spotted him taking a quick peak towards her breasts several times. With a bright smile on her face, Makoto said, "Thanks Naruto for letting me do that. I'm still not sure whither or not I will join the ninja reserve force, I don't want to be distracted too much from taking care of _any_thing you might need me to do. Still, I wouldn't mind going on an occasional mission to help out around town. I'll have to talk with Ino and get a third opinion."

Naruto then raised an eyebrow when he heard Makoto mention talking to Ino. He knew that Makoto and Ino had met and talked a few times around town. However he didn't know that they were friends. Naruto then looking strait into Makoto's emerald eyes and said, "Oh, I didn't know that you and Ino were friends."

At this question of Naruto's, Makoto just smiled and moved closer to him so that their bodies were just touching each other. Makoto then spoke as she started to shampoo his wild hair. "Yes Naruto, Ino and are friends. Maybe not super close friends, but we are friends. After we both ran into each other several times while running various to pick up various things, we started to talk to each other. It wasn't long before we both found out that we had some common interests. As for why you didn't know; well besides the fact that you've been training so hard-" Makoto then stopped and kissed Naruto right on the lips. She then winked at him and said, "We girls have to have some secrets of our own."

Makoto then picked up a bucket, filled it with water from the onsen, and gently poured it onto Naruto's head to wash the soap off of him. Makoto then pulled out a dry face towel from somewhere that Naruto, whose eyes were covered by soapy water, couldn't see. She then gently wiped away the soap from Naruto's eyes. Naruto then opened his eyes to see Makoto smiling at him. Makoto winked one more time at him and said, "See you at dinner, prince charming." Makoto then got out of the onsen and walked, without covering herself in a towel, towards the house with Naruto's eyes following her every movement. One thing was obvious to Naruto even in his dazed state, Makoto had started a whole new ballgame and he didn't have a clue as to the rules he was supposed to play by.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own them so let's all just sit back and watch my imagination run wild.

The sun was currently just rising over walls of Konoha but the entire village was wide awake and full of life. The atmosphere of the village was one of cheer and celebration; the civilians were acting like a carnival had been set up. Most of the ninja, except for those poor fools stuck on guard duty, walked through town with a little bounce in their steeps. Today the Chunin exam Tournament was being held and the tournament was on everyone's mind. People may have a particular genin that they wanted to see as champion but all of Konoha was behind their contestants. In celebration of their young ninjas proudly showing the power of Konoha, even the most bitter of blood feuds were suspended.

In this festive atmosphere Naruto, Luna in her cat form sitting on Naruto's shoulders, and the rest of the Tsukino Clan were walking towards the stadium. Naruto was currently wearing a black t-shirt, grey baggy pants, black fingerless gloves, his forehead protector, and a black short-sleeved Matrix-style coat. Inscribed on the back of Naruto's coat was the golden crescent moon crest of the Tsukino Clan. Makoto was walking next to Naruto and she was wearing a forest green one-piece Chinese dress that came down to just above her ankles. Ami was walking on the other side of Naruto, but she was a step behind Naruto. When the girls were picking out their outfits, Ami had decided to grab a traditional kimono colored in different shades of blue. Hotaru was wearing a casual outfit that many certified nurses in Konoha wore while off-duty. Finally, Setsuna was wearing a matching pair of tan paints and decorative top.

While Naruto and the senshi calmly made their way towards the stadium; they were all given a respectful distance in which to walk and occasionally a nod from a random villager. The villagers, well most of them at any rate, weren't leaving Naruto alone out of spite. Instead, most of the villagers were leaving Naruto alone due to grudging respect or self remorse. The missions that Naruto had preformed along with the knowledge of who his mother and (even the village idiot could connect the dots) father were had forced the people of Konoha to re-evaluate their conceptions about who Naruto was. Although there were still a few who considered Naruto to be the Kyuubi reborn, those people were only a very small minority. Over all Konoha was perfectly happy to leave Naruto and his friends alone as it rebooted its collective brain.

Soon enough, the Tsukino party made it to the front gates of the stadium. To Naruto's mild surprise Ino was there waiting for them. Ino was currently wearing a two piece purple dress that showed off her belly button, her forehead protector, and her pair of Death Angel Gloves. Practically running up to Naruto, Ino smiled and gave Naruto a strong hug. Ino pulled back from Naruto a moment latter and said while looking into Naruto's eyes, "Good you see you again Naruto. With all the training I've heard from Makoto that you been doing, I expect you to win this tournament." Turning to face Makoto, Ino smirked and said, "Hey Makoto! I've got a new magazine that lists all of the latest _bathing suit_ fashions. How about we get together and talk about the styles during one of the breaks between rounds?"

A slight blush appeared across Makoto's face and caused Ino's smirk to get larger. Due to many years of court intrigue and court gossip Setsuna was able to comprehend the most likely meaning of the message that Ino was passing along to Makoto. The green haired senshi then shoot an amused glace over at Makoto and then a glance at Naruto. While Naruto's face was clueless like any guy hearing 'girl talk', his brain was working vigorously to prevent another system crash due to the memories of 'The Bath'. Hotaru and Ami just stood where they were, neither of them really interested in bathing suit fashions. Thus, both Ami and Hotaru missed the glances and blushes that had resulted from Ino's statement.

After slightly shaking his head, Naruto turned to look at Luna and said, "Auntie, I think you should go with Makoto, Ino, or Ami now. I should be heading over to the contestants' box and only the contestants and the assigned medical staff are allowed in there." Luna nodded her feline head, gave Naruto a quick kiss on the check, and leaped onto Makoto's shoulder. Going a few feet in front of the girls, Naruto turned around and smiled at them. He then said in his cheerful voice, "See you girls later! I hope that you'll cheer for me." With that said, Naruto began walking towards the contestants' box.

* * *

Half an hour later, all but two of the Chunin hopefuls were waiting in the contestants' box. Naruto looked around at the various contestants and wondered where Sasuke and that one sound ninja were. All of the ninja heard the sound of the door in the back of the room open and turned to see who was coming in. Some of the assembled genin thought that it might be Sauske or Dosu finally showing up.

Those who were expecting to see their fellow contestants were slightly disappointed to see a random Konoha Chunin walk into the room. The Chunin looked around the room at each of the contestants, adjusted his sunglasses, glanced down at his watch, and pulled out a clip-board. While apparently writing on the clip-board, the Chunin in front of them said, "Well now, it seems that all of our hopefuls are here."

Kiba looked around at the competitors and said, "Uh, what about Sasuke and that sound ninja? They haven't shown up yet."

The Chunin in front of them looked up from his board and said, "Dosu Kinuta from the Sound village met with an unfortunate accident during the previous month. As for the Uchiha-" at this point the Chunin seemed to scowl, "If he doesn't have the common sense to show up at the assigned time; he isn't ready at all to become a Chunin. This tournament is, after all, only for those Genin who have proven that they are ready to try and earn the right to become Chunin. Civilians may respect family names, _Shinobi _respect ability. Because of the two absences, the matches will be as follows: Round one- Naruto and Temari, Round two- Gaara and Shikamaru, Round three- Shino and Kankuro, Round four- Kiba and Neji. The winners of rounds one and two will fight in round five. Also the winners of rounds three and four will fight in round 6. Round seven is the final match. The matches will begin in fifteen minutes."

Naruto watched as the Chunin who had told them about the slight changes walked out of contestants' box. Most of his fellow ninjas really didn't seem to care much one way or the other over the changes in the matches. Kankuro was off to the side apparently tinkering with one of his puppets. Neji was doing so well in the 'you-are-even-worthy-of-my-time' act that it made up for Sasuke not being there. Shino was his typical stoic self sitting by the opening that allowed the contestants to watch the arena. Gaara was off to the side looking emotionless but radiating an uncomfortable amount of killing intent. Shikamaru was lying on one of the benches and seemed to be cursing his luck. Finally Kiba was playing with Akamaru looking like he didn't have a care in the world.

Naruto wasn't at all surprised with Kiba's seemingly laid back attitude. Normally a heavy taijutsu user like an Inuzuka would be very nervous about going against a Hyuga; especially one as skilled as Neji was for their age group. However Anko had taught her team two very important lessons. First, if the odds aren't in your favor change the odds. Second, if you can't see a solution to a problem you should look at it from another angle. During the month that they had to train, Kiba and Naruto would occasionally stop and have lunch together in between training sessions. During these lunches, Kiba had confided to Naruto about how much he wanted to beat Neji for what had happened to Hinata. Kiba went on to talk about how he wasn't sure he would be able to beat the Hyuga prodigy when the match between him and Neji came.

Hating how Neji had treated Hinata himself, Naruto went to work in the evening after his own training to try and find a way to help Kiba. Looking into the Namikaze records from 'The Clan Wars' period gave Naruto the tool he needed to help Kiba win. The next time the two boys met for lunch Naruto handed over a scroll containing a copy of the jutsu he had found. After all, the rules never said anything about one contestant helping another contestant out to take care of a third contestant. Even if, after Kiba's match was said and done, someone tried to discredit Naruto for helping Kiba; no one could legally do anything to the two members of Team Maelstrom.

That a stink would be raised after Kiba's match was something that Naruto was almost certain. The Uchiha, if they were still around as Sasuke most likely did NOT know about that part of his clan history, would probably have had united with the Hyuga in protesting against Kiba's win. Not that Naruto could really blame the Hyuga if they started to protest. After all, that ancestor of his that had created that technique was a bigger bogyman among the Hyuga clan then the Kyuubi was; and he died almost 300 years ago!

Naruto shook his head in order to stop thinking about the past. What's done is done and now all he could was stand back and watch what he set in motion happen. Besides, Naruto thought to himself as he looked over at Temari, he had more important things to worry about now then any possible retaliation due to his and Kiba's actions. Getting up from his seat Naruto walked over to where Temari was sitting. A few moments after Naruto stopped in front of her; Temari looked up into Naruto's eyes and said, "What do you want?"

Smiling his usual fox like smile, Naruto said, "I just wanted to wish you good luck. After all, the real point of this tournament is not to win the tournament but to become Chunin. Hopefully, no matter which one of us wins jour match, both of us will become Chunin." Having said what he came over to say, Naruto walked back to his previous spot. Before he sat down, Naruto called out, "and Temari, I expect a good fight no matter who wins. It isn't often that I get the honor to fight a true kunoichi. There's a sad lack of true kunoichis in Konoha compared to fangirl ninjas."

Temari blinked her eyes and then started to bush, which she hid by lowering her face. When she had first noticed Naruto heading over to her, Temari was expecting him to try and either put down her skills or for him to try and get her to go out on a date. Those two options being the usual responses she got from male ninjas that weren't completely scared away by her brother. Instead of him doing that, Naruto had wished her good luck in the tournament even though he was her first opponent. As if that wasn't enough to through her off balance, Naruto then had to go and complement her skills. A guy doing such a thing was just out of her realm of her experiences. Finally, as if she didn't have enough on her plate to try and sort out, her heart started racing and memories of her nightly dreams came back to her mind.

Forcing those images out of her mind, Temari started to get depressed at the fact that Konoha would be attacked and likely massacred during the exams. Her father claimed that the attack was to insure the financial health of Suna but Temari hated him for it. If it wasn't for her father and his cronies' extravagant tastes then Suna would still be financially sound. True there would been some necessary cutbacks due to the Wind Lord's stupidity, but the village wouldn't be in the dire straits that it currently was in. Looking over at Naruto, Temari sent up a silent prayer that Naruto and his family survived the coming attack. Maybe if Naruto and his family survived the coming attack, she could offer them a place in Suna.

* * *

The stadium was packed and it was obvious that there wasn't an unused seat in the house. Everyone in the stadium was eagerly waiting for the fights to begin. While they were waiting, everybody was chatting with their neighbors and some people were placing various bets on the contestants. The purpose of the tournament was to allow various genin to show that they had the strength to become chunin. However, most of the civilians who flocked to watch the tournament just saw the exam as a sporting event. Only the ninjas in the crowd and those civilians who either had ninjas in the family or were good friends with ninjas thought about the real and important points of the tournament.

The crowd hushed as they heard gongs sound all around them in order to signal the opening of the tournament. Everyone's eyes were now focused on the area below them; waiting for the announcer to appear. With a poof of smoke the announcer, who was a Konoha Jonin, appeared in the middle of the stage. The announcer then calmly said, "The Chunin exams have begun. Will Naruto Tsukino and Temari of the Desert please come down for their match?" Temari glided down on her battle fan and then landed next to the announcer. Naruto on the other hand calmly walked down the stadium wall.

Naruto and Temari stood in the center of the arena facing each other only fifteen feet away from each other. Both of them showed no outward sign of nervousness or excitement; only calm determination shone on their faces. They focused all of their attention on each other and the battle field, forgetting at the moment about the tournament and the crowd that was watching them.

As soon as the announcer told them to begin, Temari attacked. Not bothering to taunt Naruto like she had her opponent in the preliminaries, Temari whipped her fan out and yelled out, "SLASHING WIND SKILL!" Naruto saw the attack coming at him head on and cart wheeled off to the right in order to avoid being hit. Quickly making the necessary hand seals, Naruto landed on his feet and called out, "Nijutsu: clone technique." Instantly three dozen Naruto clones appeared all around Temari in attack stances, each of the clones had a determined look in their eyes.

Not sure from which direction Naruto planed to have his clones attack, Temari got into a defensive position and carefully scanned field in front of her. Suddenly Temari snapped her head to her right when she saw three Narutos come charging at her. Closing her fan so as be able to move it faster, Temari used her fan like a baseball bat. The fan passed through the first two Narutos revealing them to be nothing more then basic clones. However to Temari's surprise, the third clone caught her fan in one of its hands and smirked. Grinning like a fox, that particular Naruto calmly said, "Boom."

While not as devastating an explosion as she had witnessed from Naruto earlier in the preliminaries, the explosion did cause Temari a bit of trouble. In order for her to retain her grip on her battle fan, Temari was force to take a few steeps backwards. To her immense displeasure and frustration, Temari found herself in the middle of a Naruto swarm. Being forced to fight so completely defensively was NOT a good thing in her opinion. She had, due to circumstance and disposition, trained heavy as an offensive fighter; her defense being that the enemy couldn't get close enough to touch her. She wasn't completely helpless like other combat specialists out of their area of expertise but she was in trouble.

As her mind furiously tried to figure out a way to turn her situation around, Temari found herself admiring Naruto's strategy. By mixing regular clones with shadow clones was sheer brilliance; she would have applauded him for it if she wasn't in the middle of defending herself. Naruto had created a way to keep his opponents constantly on the edge, never knowing which of the attacking foes they could ignore and which were a real threat. Also, unless he had somehow managed to make the jutsu self-sustaning, Naruto had managed to blend in perfectly with his clones and he replenished the initial force.

Temari was almost driven to the point where she would start to consider surrendering the match when a burst of inspiration hit her. Whipping open her fan Temari yelled out, "SLASHING CYCLONE OF WIND!!!" Pivoting around on her heel; Temari made several rapid rotations while forcing her chakra into her fan and then out of the fan as wind blades. The expanding barrage of blades sliced through every clone that Naruto had on the field. Stopping her improvised attack, Temari looked around the field to try and spot Naruto. She knew that the blades of her attack didn't have the strength to kill a real person so she needed to find Naruto and bash his head good in order to win the match.

Sadly for Temari, she underestimated the amount of chakra that her brand new jutsu needed. Just before she fainted do to chakra exhaustion Temari whispered, "Where are you?" Naruto popped out of the ground behind Temari and scooped up her falling body. Gently holding Temari close to him bridal-style, Naruto turned to face the announcer. The announcer nodded his head and gave the signal to the judges that the match was over. Not caring about the cheers of the audience Naruto just silently walked towards the exit. All Naruto was concerned about right now was making sure that Temari got to a bed so that she could recover from her exhaustion. He stopped walking only once when he thought that Temari was moving but only saw her peacefully sleeping in his arms.

* * *

Up in the Kage's booth Sarutobi turned to who he thought was the Kazekage and said with a jovial smile, "An excellent match wouldn't you say? Your daughter's ingenuity in trying to get out of the situation she was in was astounding. It almost seems a shame that she couldn't continue such a wonderful match after using that move."

In his disguise Orochimaru said, "Yes it is such a shame. I will have to have her practice that new move of hers more so that this doesn't happen again." Both men turned to gaze out onto the field where the announcer proceeded to announce that the next match would be between Gaara of the Desert and Shikamaru Nara. Orochimaru's eyes widened when he heard that announcement and barely hiding his worry said to Sarutobi, "What is this dear friend? I know for a fact that it was the Uchiha that my son was supposed to be fighting, not a Nara."

Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe and said, "True Sasuke Uchiha was supposed to fight your youngest son. However Sasuke failed to show up at the appointed time and has thus been disqualified." Narrowing his eyes at the supposed kage, Sarutobi continued, "After all dear friend, an unreliable ninja is a useless ninja. Copy-cat Kakashi may be chronically late for things, but I can at least count on him to be there on time when I actually need him. Why are you so interested in the Uchiha?"

Orochimaru bit his forked tongue and managed to utter, "Sorry dear friend, I have just been looking forward to proving my village's strength on this day. Particularly, I was looking forward to Gaara beating the Uchiha in front of all of these dignitaries. To find out now that the fight I was hoping to see won't happen is like biting into a bitter apple." Inside, Orochimaru was fuming. Several of his plans required the Uchiha brat to be at the stadium in that fight. The brat would need to use the cursed seal in order to have a hope of fighting Gaara. That and his victory over Konoha would show that brat the power that he, Orochimaru could offer. Still, the situation was still salvageable and he would have to content himself with that fact.

* * *

In the contestants' box, Shikamaru was woken up by Akamaru nipping at his toes. Turning to look out and see the arena Shikamaru sighed and said, "Looks like it's my turn already. What a drag, I'd much rather be out watching the clouds then fighting." Turning to face the chunin that was in the box in order to keep watch on the contestants Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders. After he finished shrugging Shikamaru said, "I forfeit." Noticing the glares that Naruto and Kiba were sending him Shikamaru continued, "I know my abilities. There is no way that I have a real chance against my opponent in a fight."

The Chunin in the back of the room nodded his head accepting Shikamaru's forfeit. He then walked over to the opening and shouted out to the announcer. "Shikamaru Nara has forfeited the match. Therefore the winner of the second match by forfeiture is Garra of the Desert." The crowd in the stadium started to roar in outrage; they came to see a fight and didn't like being denied what they wanted. Their outrage grew to epic proportions when yet again a match was won through forfeiture. This time it was Kankuro who forfeited in order to make sure that his puppets' modifications weren't revealed before the invasion.

Luckily for the crowd's temper, neither Kiba nor Neji forfeited their match. Both boys marched out onto the arena and stared at each other in the center of the arena. After the announcer started the match, it became an old fashion stand-off between the two boys. With a cold arrogant voice Neji said, "Give up Inuzuka. There is no way that you can win this match, fate has already ordained my victory today. You cannot fight fate; Lady Hinata already proved it before your eyes. Leave now and spare yourself the bitter pain of defeat."

Kiba let out a growl as he grinded his teeth together, "I going to make you pay for what you did to Hinata. Your words don't scare me Neji and as for you seeing my fate-" Kiba turned his head back gave a nasty grin, "That's a laugh. You must be blind if you think you can see me loosing to scum like you."

Neji's frown hardened into a scowl. While he was make hand signs Neji said, "I gave you a way out. Now suffer the concequences of your delusions, BYAKUGAN!" The veins around Neji's eyes bulged outward showing that he had activated the Hyuga bloodline limit. Since Neji was expecting Kiba to brashly rush in to try and attack him, Neji got in to one of the more defensive stances in the Gentle fist.

Kiba grinned when he saw that Neji was expecting him to attack the arrogant Hyuga. Reaching into his hip supply pack Kiba pulled out four soldier pills and quickly swallowed them. Feeling the effects of the pills, and immense pain from the massive overdose, Kiba knew that he needed to quickly get to work. Kiba ignored the pain he was in and called out, "Neji! Your advantage and pride shall be your downfall!" With a speed not expected from a Jonin, Kiba rapidly went through thirty hand seals and stopped on the dragon sign. Closing his eyes Kiba cried out, "NINJA ART: STONEBURNER!!"

Instantly Kiba lit up and unleashed a blinding flash of light. The flash from his jutsu was so bright and painful that it forced everyone to look away from the area. Once it was safe for them to look again, the entire crowd was shocked at what they saw. Kiba was breathing heavily and there was a mushroom-like cloud of dust ascending into the sky with him at its base. For five feet all around Kiba, the ground was scorched black. As shocking as Kiba was due to his attack, nothing could prepare people for when they looked at Neji. The once prideful boy was flat on his back with extreme sunburns covering every inch of exposed skin. However, the thing that shocked the crowd the most was Neji's face. Neji was twitching and moving his head, his face showing only pure terror, as if he was trying to find something. With the voice of a terrified little child, Neji uttered, "W-what's g-going on? Why can't I see?"

Kiba, although his body ached a great deal from his only attack, walked over to look down at the terrified Neji. With a look of disgust on his face Kiba said, "Now you see that your 'fate' is nothing but bull. You're not a ninja, just a child trying to bully anyone he can because he got a bad deal. The blindness is not permanent; you'll be able to see again in 30 days. It will take an additional 10 days after that period for your eyes to fully heal before you'll be able to use your bloodline again. Hopefully the darkness will allow you to see the error of your ways." Kiba then started to walk towards the exit and nodded his head when he heard the announcer proclaim his victory.

The stands were completely hushed as Kiba left the field and only erupted in quiet confused chatter once Neji was carred off the field by a team of medical ninjas. Hanibi Hyuga, who had been expecting Neji to easily win the match, turned to her father. To the little girl's confusion her proud and shakable father was trembling and his face was extremely pale. "N-no," Hiashi uttered with a voice of pure terror, "I-it's been t-three hundred years. W-why has dojutsu destroyer returned n-now?"

Hanibi's eyes widened showing her surprise when she heard her father utter the words dojutsu destroyer. She had heard rumors, late at night when she was supposed to be in bed, being uttered by some of the branch members about the dojutsu destroyer. Its name was always spoken of with absolute fear and terror. One day, after she frustrated at trying to figure out what it was, Hanibi snuck into the restricted section of the Clan library. The information she was looking for was written on one particular scroll that was hidden away as if the information on it was supposed to be forgotten.

The story the scroll told both fascinated and terrified Hanibi. Apparently the jutsu Ninja Art: Stoneburner was the creation and personal favorite of Temujin Namikaze. Temujin Namikaze lived during the height of the Clan Wars period and was responsible for ending that period and ushering in the modern elemental countries. That technique of his gained the name of dojutsu destroyer due to the Massacre of the Eyes. Massacre of the Eyes was the Hyuga name for a battle in which Temujin and ten of his clansmen killed over 1,000 ninja in a single battle. All of the men killed belonged clans with dojutsu. At the time there were over twenty known clans with dojutsus; after that battle only the Uchiha and Hyuga clans remained.

Hanibi ignored her trembling father and glanced down at the contestants' box. There was only one place that that smelly ruffian of an Inuzuka could have learned the technique. It was obvious that the Inuzuka must have been given the jutsu by his teammate Naruto Tsukino. Although most of the Hyuga hated and feared Temujin Namikaze more fiercely then they did the Kyuubi; Hanibi was fascinated with the man. Temujin was the only person in recorded history to unite all of the known lands into a single state. Hinata's younger sister spent as much free time as she could studying Temujin and his legacy. While Temujin's empire crumbled apart a little over a hundred years after his death, the man left an enduring legacy in the Elemental countries. In fact, the elemental countries themselves were mostly just the provinces of Temujin's empire acting autonomously. One of the many things that Hanibi had studied about Temujin was the man's family tree. It the young girl's surprise Temujin's line was carried by eldest surviving son all the way down to Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. Thus Hanibi knew that only Naruto, as heir to the Namikaze clan, could have had access to the jutsu.

Tilting her head in contemplation, Hanibi found that her answered question was replaced by a multitude of other questions. Why had Naruto given that jutsu to Kiba? How powerful was Naruto really? How many techniques of his ancestors did Naruto know? Could Naruto be the one that Temujin had prophesied about as the old conqueror laid dying on his bed? If Naruto really was the one that Temujin prophesied about, were the elemental countries ready for the storm to come?

-Hello there my faithful readers. How do you like the story so far? Happy New Year and I hope that the upcoming year is better then the one preceding it for everyone. Just so you know I'm currently looking for a decent proof-reader. If you're interested just give me a private message and I'll get back to you on it. I wonder how many people can figure out what I'm alluding to with Temujin and his little jutsu.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I have it on good authority that the Shinigami won't take his summoner's soul if he is being called to devour the souls of those fools too stupid to realize that I and other fanfiction writers don't own the works that their stories are based on. No one wants to go visit Casa de Hokage (rated 4 out of 5 kages)? Good. We can now continue on with the story.

By Chunin tournament rules, there is a mandatory half hour break between each tier of fights. Thanks to Kiba's one-two knockout match most spectators were glad to have the half-hour break. The people sitting near most of the Hyugas were particularly glad to have the break as the smell from those Hyugas was starting to become unpleasant. Even though there was no action going on in the ring there was plenty of action happening in the stands. These breaks were a time of casting bets among friends, getting things to consume, or just chat with friends.

Makoto and Ino, using the excuse of having to go to the bathroom, quietly got up and went to a secluded part of the stadium. Once the two girls were sure that they were alone Ino turned to face Makoto and said, "Okay Makoto spill. Don't think that I didn't notice that big blush on your face when I mentioned the swimsuit catalog because I did." A small smirk appeared on Ino's face as she watched the sheepish look appear on Makoto's face. The two of them might be friends and Ino was extremely grateful for the friendship but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy making Makoto squirm.

In a slightly quiet voice, but still loud enough for Ino to hear, Makoto said very rapidly, "IgotintheonsenwithNarutowhilebothofuswerenudetohelpwashhisback." Makoto looked up to see that Ino had a slightly shocked look on her face.

Ino just stood there blinking her eyes for a moment trying to process what she _thought_she had heard Makoto say. While a part of Ino wanted to pretend that Makoto had not just said that she had gone in the onsen with Naruto while both of them were nude, Ino wasn't that petty. Judging from Makoto's blush Ino figured that things hadn't progressed beyond Naruto getting a good view of Makoto's figure. Had something like this have happened a year ago and towards Sasuke, Ino knew that she would never have talked to Makoto again. Luckily for Ino and Makoto's friendship, Ino had grown up in many ways since her crush on Sasuke. Finally after a few minutes Ino was able to find her voice and she said, "Damn it Makoto, Couldn't you have at least waited for me to be there as well!"

Both Ino and Makoto had met only a few days after the Sailor Scouts had arrived in Konoha. The two of them had rather quickly become friends and liked to hang out after their respective training sessions. It was during their daily get together sessions that both girls had confronted each other on their feelings towards a certain whiskered boy. Makoto and Ino had sat down after that particular talk to figure out what the two of them were to do. They both knew of the 'particular' situation that Naruto had regarding his marital status. Since both of them knew that they couldn't have Naruto all to themselves, the council just wouldn't risk a bloodline like that, the two girls a very reluctantly agreed to work together in wining Naruto.

While their alliance had been very reluctant at first, Makoto and Ino had gradually grown more comfortable with the situation. Ino and Makoto started to become better friends due to the fact that they didn't have their feelings dividing them. True it had been slow going at first for them to reach their current status with each other, but they weren't bitter about it. Naruto was one of those rare people who just had an infinite supply of love. Neither girl would ever have to worry about themselves being relegated to an out of the way spot in Naruto's heart.

After getting the facts, and all graphic details, about what happened in the onsen out of Makoto the two girls focused on a much more important topic. This important topic was none other than what other girls should Makoto and Ino team up with to win Naruto's heart. Unlike talking about what happened in the onsen, this topic was completely uncomfortable and wasn't enjoyable for the two girls. Why should they be happy about this line of discussion? After all, they were talking about getting even MORE girls to share Naruto with. However, Ino and Makoto had gone over historical cases of clan restoration being put into effect and had found that every guy who had that law applied to them never got away with just having two girls.

Ino was completely silent when it came to a suggestion from her; she just hadn't found any other girl that she could see Naruto interested in and who would like Naruto. The fact that she hadn't found anyone made Ino really hoped that Makoto had more luck. While it was highly unlikely that Naruto could ultimately get away with only three wives/concubines, there would be a great deal more breathing room to make a choice then if it was just her and Makoto. Most likely if it was just the two of them, then Naruto would be stuck with an arranged marriage to a third girl by his 16th birthday. Makoto was one person Ino could accept sharing Naruto with and Ino could trust Makoto's suggestion for a third girl. Ino would not accept sharing Naruto with some girl that the Konoha Council might try to stick him with.

Luckily for Ino's good mood, Makoto had a smile on her face and cheerfully started talking. "As a matter of fact Ino, I have found a girl that would work in our plans for Naruto. The other day I stumbled upon Ami's diary and discovered that our favorite seal mistress happens to have a VERY big crush on Naruto." Ino quickly processed what Makoto was saying and started to get a cat-got-the-canary grin. This was very good news in Ino's opinion as Ami was a very good choice for a co-wife. Mentally Ino was kicking herself for not considering Ami earlier. Ami meet all of the conditions that Ino and Makoto had decided were needed in a girl before they would include a girl in their plans.

Makoto and Ino then spent the next few minutes going over plans to catch Naruto. Although there wasn't much that had been defiantly decided, both of them agreed that it would probably be easier to include Ami once they had caught Naruto. That way they could nudge Naruto into going after Ami. Makoto figured that Naruto would have an infinitely easier time getting Ami to agree to join a harem then they would of getting Ami to help catch Naruto. The two girls left their private cubby hole and grabbed some snacks before sitting back down in their seats.

* * *

The Announcer was standing in the area's field calmly looking at his watch. In about five more minutes the break would be over and he could announce the start of the fifth match. Suddenly a big whirlwind appeared in the center of the area. As the whirlwind dissipated the figures of Kakashi and Sasuke became clear to the announcer and everyone else in the stadium. The Announcer approached the duo and angrily called out, "What do you two Prima Donnas think you're doing! This area is off-limits to unauthorized personal, no spectators allowed. Security, take these two trespassers into custody."

Before Kakashi or Sasuke could say a single word, half a dozen ANBU suddenly appeared around the duo. One ANBU each grabbed an arm on the trespassers while the last two drew their ninjatos and pressed the point of the blades against Kakashi and Sasuke's backs. The two of them were then marched out of the arena at sword point. A lot of the civilians and Sasuke's fangirls were shocked that the UCHIHA was being escorted out so shamefully. On the other hand, most of the ninjas and those who had large connections to ninjas were laughing their asses off. Inside his mind Sasuke was fuming that some would DARE do such a thing to an Uchiha and was incensed that people even had the nerve to laugh at him.

Once the arena had been cleared of the two trespassers the Announcer called out, "Will Naruto Tsukino and Gaara of the Desert please come down for there match." The Announcer's request was almost instantly answered by Naruto and Gaara both body flickering into the arena. Gaara and Naruto locked eyes; both instinctively knowing that their opponent was far more powerful than they had previously seen. Both of them were ready for what promised to be one of the best and dangerous fights in their young lives.

As soon as the Announcer called the start of the match, Naruto started on the attack. He pulled out a shuriken and threw it at Gaara calling out, "Shadow Clone Shuriken." Instantly that single shuriken became 30 shuriken all flying at an impressive speed towards Gaara. Naruto was not at all surprised to see Gaara's sand automatically came up to stop the shuriken coming at the red-haired Suna ninja. To the surprise of some of the spectators Naruto crouched down as if he was getting ready to run. Just as the shuriken were about to be caught by Gaara's sand, Naruto yelled out, "Shadow Clone Explosion!"

A very large explosion rocked the arena as Naruto's jutsu blasted a hole through Gaara's 'ultimate defense'. Gaara was shocked for a second and that was enough for Naruto. With a speed that could rival Guy without his weights, Naruto ran through the smoke filled opening and started to attack Gaara. Since Naruto figure he only had a few seconds to attack before Gaara's sand would respond, Naruto attacked as fiercely as he could. By reinforcing his hands and feet with chakra Naruto was able to actually penetrate the sand armor that Gaara had covering his body with each and every hit. The taijutsu combo was completed by Naruto sending a bone shattering kick glowing blue with chakra strait to Gaara's chest sending the red-head flying.

Due to the force of Naruto's kick, Gaara was sent flying faster then his sand could move to catch up. The end result of this was that Gaara impacted one of the few trees in the arena with a satisfying thwack. Reaching down to his supply pocket Naruto prepared to repeat this process. One thing that was obvious about Gaara in Naruto's mind was that Gaara was weak. Not weak as in being a weak ninja because Gaara was a very powerful opponent, but rather weak as in being physically weak. Anyone who had observed Gaara would have noticed all of the signs: lack of muscle tone or mass, Gaara's rather slow movement compared to other ninjas, and the heavy use of protective jutsus to prevent anyone from getting near him. As Naruto threw the shuriken, he silently figured that it should take one or two more repeats to knock Gaara out.

Gaara was laying half propped up against the tree he had been kicked into seconds ago. As he lay against the tree, Gaara found himself having trouble breathing and feeling an almost crippling amount of pain in his chest. Unknown to Gaara, Naruto's last kick had actually broken several of Gaara's ribs. Due to the impact against the tree one of Gaara's loose ribs had cut into the bottom of his right lung. Shukaku, if he wasn't cowering in the back of Gaara's mind after he sensed the celestial chakra that Naruto had, couldn't rapidly heal Gaara because of how the seal binding them together was made. All in all things weren't looking good for Suna's Jinchuuriki.

Even though things were not looking good for him, Gaara refused to surrender. There was no way that he would allow his life to loose the only purpose he ever had. Gaara focused past the immense pain he was in to form his remaining sand into a thick wall to protect him from the incoming shuriken. Knowing that Naruto would probably use shadow clone explosion, Gaara poured every last bit of Chakra he could collect into the sand wall. The sand wall was able to withstand the massive explosions sent against but it soon collapsed after the smoke cleared.

Naruto, who had noticed the wall of sand that Gaara had created to defend himself against the incoming shuriken, was currently perpendicular to where the explosions had just occurred. Originally Naruto had planed on using his last attack to distract Gaara and then attack from where he currently was. However Naruto could see that Gaara was at his legs of the fight. Sweat was visibly falling down Gaara's head and his breathing seemed to be very labored to Naruto. In fact, the breathing was far to labored for Naruto's taste in a 'friendly' match such as this. Slowly Naruto walked over to where Gaara was and looked into Gaara's fearful eyes. Grabbing a Kunai, Naruto leaned over and brought the Kunai next to Gaara's head.

With a quick swipe of his hand Naruto cut off a lock of Gaara's red hair and turned to show it to the shocked Announcer. Naruto then called out in a commanding voice, "My opponent has been defeated, call the match so that we can get him to a trained physician." The Announcer then very quickly called the match and declared Naruto as the winner. Letting the lock of fall to the ground, Naruto turned around to face the shocked and confused Gaara. Naruto then gave Gaara a bright smile and said, "Come on man, let's get you to a medic." With that said Naruto reached down and picked Gaara up putting him in a piggyback position. Completely ignoring Gaara's weight, Naruto walked off of the Arena. As he was carried off the field Gaara felt more comfort and caring radiating off of Naruto then the lonely boy had ever felt before. This comfort and warmth made Gaara wonder if he had been going about his life the wrong way.

Inside of Gaara, Shukaku was shaking in his proverbial boots. All the insane Tanuki could think was: WHAT THE HELL WAS UP WITH THIS VILLAGE?! First, there was that little girl who had an energy well that was larger than his own. Also that little girl's chakra had a deeper connection to death and rebirth than Nibi could ever hope to achieve. As if that wasn't bad enough, this punk who was carrying his latest host has to show up. That boy's celestial chakra affinity was obvious to any demon and it was practically singing of its slaying of the Kyuubi. One thing that Skukaku was certain of after the fight was over was that there was NOTHING that could entice it to leave its nice little hiding spot. Mama Tanuki raised no fools; she ate them.

* * *

All throughout the stadium people were reacting differently to Naruto and Gaara's fight. Some civilians were giving a round of applause. They were very impressed with how Naruto handled the battle and were deeply touched by the concern that Naruto showed his opponents. Other civilian spectators were grumbling about the small amount of 'cool jutsu' being used in the tournament. Sasuke's fangirls were the worst of the lot though and were disgusting their neighbors. They complained about Sasuke being lead off the field, how that should have been Sasuke's fight as Shikamaru never fought, and finally how their Sasuke would have finished the match a whole lot quicker and better then Naruto could. Those that knew the fangirls pretended that they didn't and those who didn't know any fangirls wondered which villages were currently missing their idiots.

In the contestants' box Temari, who had woken up during the half hour break time, was staring at the now empty arena in shock. The impossible had just happened right in front of her and she still couldn't believe that it actually happened. Gaara was unstoppable; all a person could do was to try and mollify Gaara if they wanted to live. That was a fact of life for Temari as long as she could remember. Her baby brother had effortlessly and ruthlessly killed 300 people by Temari's last count. Even IF someone ever got close to truly harming Gaara, Shukaku would always appear to slay the person in question before going on a rampage. Who and what was Naruto Tsukino that he could defeat Gaara and make it so that Shukaku refused to reveal its powers.

Temari felt like pulling her hair out when she thought about the whiskered blond she and her brother had fought. The more and more she thought about Naruto the more it seemed to her that the boy had made it his personal mission in his life to turn her life upside down. How could a person be so cunning and powerful in battle and at the same time so friendly and compassionate outside of a fight? It had taken all of Temari's willpower not to break out in a bright red blush when Kankuro had told her that Naruto had carried her up from the field. Hell would freeze over and the Devil would give free snow rides before Temari would willingly admit out loud that she had had the best rest that she could remember when she was carried in Naruto's arms.

Turning her head Temari found and locked her eyes with Kankuro's. Both brother and sister quietly looked at each other for a moment before they firmly nodded their heads. Despite their orders, they were sitting out on the upcoming invasion. Although Temari had been the most vocal in her protests about the up coming attack Kankuro personally didn't like it either. The commitment of high level Suna ninjas compared to Oto ninjas was too high of a difference for Kankuro's taste. Besides, the plan seemed to depend on surprise, Oto's snake summons, and Gaara. Naruto's victory over Gaara had completely destroyed two out of three pillars of the plan. Silently Kankuro cursed his moron of a father for going on with this plan.

* * *

Kakashi, who had been let go with a friendly slap on the back after he and Sasuke were separated, was standing in the tops of the stands smiling. The infamous one-eyed jonin was extremely pleased with Naruto's fight and proud to see how much his sensei's son had improved. After quickly talking with Guy, Kakashi felt horrible for missing Naruto's first fight. Unfortunately the Hokage had privately and firmly told Kakashi that Sasuke could under no circumstances enter the final round of the Chunin exam. Orrochimaru was just too interested in the young Uchiha for the boy to safely compete. In order to help complete this mission Kakashi had been given a knockout poison that could be slipped into Sasuke's drink. That poison was still in Kakashi's pocket as Sasuke's ego had made it completely unnecessary.

Besides, given Sasuke's overall attitude and lack of sufficient progress during their month of training, it was highly unlikely that Sasuke could defeat Gaara. True, Sasuke could possibly win with a one-two fight like Naruto did using the Chidori that Sasuke had learned. However, given Sasuke's arrogance, it was most likely that by the time Sasuke would be willing to use the Chidori that Gaara would have prepared a possible defense. It had been painful giving up his only original jutsu to a person like Sasuke but Kakashi knew that it was the only way to justify training away from Konoha and Orochimaru's spies. As for Sasuke making it to Chunin Kakashi could only scoff at the idea. Personally Kakashi would have flunked Sasuke during the preliminaries if he had the chance. If it wasn't for the fact that Sasuke would likely get a sensei that would spoil the boy, Kakashi would have dropped Sasuke from Team 7. No leaf ninja should act against a fellow leaf ninja like Sasuke did to Ino; you just didn't.

* * *

In a shadowy part of one stadium exit corridor Sasuke Uchiha was grinding his teeth as he looked on at the area below him. That was his fight, not that average ninja Naruto. He was a prodigy of the Uchiha Clan, the very best of the best and born to surpass all others. Didn't these plebeians realize that it was an honor for them to be able to see him fight? All across Konoha dozens upon dozens of shop owners knew this fact. They realized the honor that he was bestowing upon them by visiting their shops and they showed their gratitude as was proper by giving him generous discounts and allowing him to take care of his business before they took care of their rift-raft customers.

Thinking of the fight that had occurred below him Sasuke knew in his heart that he wouldn't have been able to win. Gaara was just too powerful for him to defeat and that fact angered Sasuke. If he couldn't defeat Gaara what chance did he really have against _Him_? Naruto wining against, no decimating, Gaara was to Sasuke like a block of salt being rubbed his back that had its skin flayed off. How could such an unimportant average student gain so much power that it could surpass what he the noble Uchiha had? It just wasn't fair Sasuke thought. He deserved, no needed, that kind of power to avenge his family.

Unconsciously Sasuke raised his right hand and had it touch the spot on his next where the Cursed Seal of Heaven was located. At the back of Sasuke's mind the events of the Forest of Death were rapidly replaying for the annoyed avenger. When he had first faced Orochimaru, Sauske had been terrified for his life. The Snake Sannin had completely dominated their battle and Orochimaru had had Sasuke at his mercy. Only _He_had ever made Sasuke feel like that and Sasuke didn't like it one bit. But then, what had Orochimaru done when he had Sasuke at his mercy? All that Orochimaru had done was spit out the Earth Scroll that the Sannin had eaten before the fight and had even left the "gift" of the cursed seal.

When the cursed seal had first been applied Sasuke had felt an incredible amount of pain. That agonizing pain had lasted for hours and at time Sasuke had thought that he would either die or go mad from the pain. However he was an avenger and he had survived the torture that had come with the formation of the cursed seal. Once the pain was over Sasuke had been filled with more power then he had ever imagined having before that moment. Power; that was the gift that Orochimaru had offered him and Orochimaru had been very generous in the amount of power he had shared. With power like that Sasuke knew that he could finally avenge his clan.

A scowl crossed Sasuke's face as he continued thinking about what had happened after his preliminary fight. Kakashi, in all of his wisdom, had just gone and done his best to destroy the wonderful gift that Orochimaru had bestowed upon Sasuke. Once Kakashi had done his best to seal away that precious gift had gone on to say that no good could come of Orochimaru or anything that Orochimaru gave. What did Kakashi really know anyway? All that his good for nothing excuse of a sensei had done, that Sasuke could remember was to harp on the need for 'teamwork'. Uchihas didn't have teammates they had subordinates; it wasn't his fault Sasuke mused that the Aburame couldn't get with the program like the Hurano could.

* * *

Up in the Kage booth Orochimaru was getting extremely agitated and was cursing his luck. When the Uchiha brat had FINALLY shown up Orochimaru had thought that he would have another chance. After all, it shouldn't take too much effort to convince the old fool to let the Uchiha brat fight against Gaara. He could claim that they could do it as an exhibition match in order to make it up to the crowds for the two forfeits in a row that had happened in first round. Sadly any chances of convincing his old teacher went down the drain when the Uchiha brat and his lazy sensei had been forcefully escorted out of the arena.

When the fifth match had started Orochimaru was hoping that he would at least have the joy of seeing the whelp of that man who had stolen the title of Hokage from him brutally maimed and hopefully killed. However things yet again didn't go Orochimaru's way as the bouncing blond brat managed to completely defeat Gaara. What was it with that cursed family in that they had to constantly butt in and mess up his plans? Couldn't Konoha have at the very least risen up against Sarutobi and end _That Man's _line for him when the brat was only a day old? Now thanks to that thrice damn family it looked like his plans were ruined once again.

Suddenly Orochimaru sensed Sasuke's rising anger and hatred through the connection the two of them had thanks to the cursed seal. An evil smile graced Orochimaru's face as he thought about the emotions that he was feeling from the Uchiha brat. It seemed that not being able to fight and witnessing the power that the blond brat had was enough to cause the Uchiha to respond almost exactly like Orochimaru had originally wanted. The irony that his plans could only advance now thanks to actions of the blond brat was not lost on Orochimaru.

Thinking over the situation, Orochimaru quickly decided to continue on with the plan he had laid. While it looked unlikely that Konoha would be completely destroyed like Orochimaru had at first hoped, he could accept that fact. The king could be saved, but only at a great cost of its pawns and faithful servants. Besides, Orochimaru knew that in reality the true and primary goal of this invasion had never been the destruction of Konoha. The destruction of this filthy village was only an icing on the cake for Orochimaru; Orochimaru's true goal was the death of the opposing queen while gaining his own queen in the same move.

Turning to his right, Orochimaru glanced over at a non-descript ANBU operative dressed all in black. Kabuto in his ANBU disguise locked eyes with Orochimaru. For a moment the master and apprentice traitors just looked at each other. After the moment past Orochimaru gave the signal to Kabuto. The silver haired traitor nodded his head and moved in position. A gleam appeared in Orochimaru's yellow eyes as he thought about the situation. Everything was all set and Kabuto had just gone to light the match that would throw Konoha and hopefully the whole world into flames.

* * *

Omake (from the Namikaze clan records):

Usagi Tsukino, soon to be Usagi Namikaze, was extremely PISSED. Over the past few months she had noticed a rapid increase in the number of little orange books appearing throughout Konoha. So many men were become such big and open perverts that Usagi had refused to transform into into her Sailor Moon form. It was one thing to be complemented on being cute and attractive; it was a totally different thing to become an object of lust in a pervert's day dream. Earlier today she had finally found out that it was her fiancé's old sensei Jiraiya who was writing that garbage. To make matters worse Jiraiya had the nerve to peep on her while she was bathing while muttering research. When she got her hands on him Usagi swore that Jiraiya wouldn't EVER come near her again.

Ten days latter…

Jiraiya was pleading to every god and spirit that he had ever heard of to get him out of this mess. Jiraiya's idiot student's bride-to-be had capture the Toad Sannan and then told him that she would make his life hell. While Jiraiya could certainly attest to the fact that Usagi had carried out her threat. She tied him up in the center of a gay S&M bar, injected him with a nerve stimulant to heighten his senses, and gave the bartender a large wad of cash telling the man to call all of his loyal patrons over for a party. To Jiraiya's immense misfortune every gay man in Fire Country showed up to the party and he was the main entertainment.

If he ever got out of this hell Jiraiya swore he would never ever use Usagi for research again. Minato might have been getting a blond bombshell with a brain for a bride but no girl, not even Tsunade, was worth this kind of torture.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer I have a Shonen Jump magazine, this does not constitute owning Naruto.

Shino and Kiba were both heading out onto the field when it happened; Kabuto in his ANBU disguise jumped down onto the field and activated a very powerful sleeping genjutsu. People all over the stadium instantly succumbed to the effects of Kabuto's jutsu. An explosion rocked the Kage booth as Orochimaru and his Sound Four got ready to attack Sarutobi. Following their master's orders the Sound Four quickly dispatched the few honor guards that were in the Kage booth leaving Sarutobi for Orochimaru. Around the edges of Konoha's walls, the various Summonings were being completed by Suna and Oto ninja teams. These Summonings resulted in massive Snakes being called up with the sole purpose of killing everyone in Konoha that they could.

Sarutobi looked on in shock as he saw his guards quickly killed in front of his eyes. While he had known that Orochimaru was planning to attack for the past month, Sarutobi had never expected the Kazekage to be in on the attack. A quick glance at the people who had dispatched his guards made Sarutobi narrow his eyes. Those were NOT Suna ninjas who had just killed the Hokage honor guard. Getting into a defensive stance Sarutobi called out to the man in the Kazekage's robes, "Who are you! Don't try and claim that you're the Yondaime Kazekage, he would never allow his guard to be composed of anything other then Suna ninjas!"

"Well, well, well, it seems that 'The Professor' is just as sharp as always." Orochimaru muttered while still wearing the Kazekage's robes. In his creepy snake-like voice Orochimaru continued talking. "You always were very observant, isn't that right Sensei." There was a scowl on Sarutobi's face as he watched Orochimaru take off the Kage hat. Right there in front of Sarutobi was his old student standing there mocking him. A twisted smile appeared on Orochimaru's face and the pale faced ninja then mockingly said, "What's with the serious face sensei? I thought that you would have been happy to see your 'prodigy' pupil once more. Your old teammates Koharu and Homura send their greetings. From what I hear they and their little band of ninjas have settled in quite nicely into their new home. Would you like me to tell you where it is so that you can send them a housewarming present?"

Although he didn't show it Sarutobi was furious that Orochimaru was standing there mocking him. His voice laced with more venom then the Kusanagi sword, Sarutobi said, "I am the only living member of Team Nidaime, Orochimaru. Why would I want to talk to the dead? There is only one thing that I want to know and that is your motive for this attack. Revenge against a perceived slight is far too petty of a reason for you; the Orochimaru that was my pupil may no longer exist but I still know that about you."

Running his hand through a lock of his hair, Orochimaru let out a small chuckle. "Your right," Orochimaru said in a nonchalant way, "Revenge is too petty of a reason for me. All you need to know Sensei is that I have plans for the future; a future with the world in motion, a future without Konoha." Orochimaru then turned to shout at the Sound Four, "Erect the Barrier! Make sure that no one interrupts me while I take care of this old relic."

* * *

Throughout the stadium, various leaf ninjas who had managed to not get caught in Kabuto's genjutsu were busy taking care of the situation at hand. Most of the ninja who had escaped the genjutsu were busy defending the stadium against the Oto ninjas that were trying to kill the sleeping civilians. Here and there was the occasional genin who had noticed the genjutsu and had been able to cancel the genjutsu's effects before they took hold. These few genin had all immediately set about working to wake up their neighbors. After shacking off the lingering effects of the genjutsu, the people who the genin woke up immediately fled the stadium or set about helping the defenders.

Naruto, who had avoided the genjutsu due to the fact that he had been deep within the stadium at the time Kabuto unleashed the technique, was rapidly running up the stairs leading up to the stands. Some Jonin who had managed to escape the genjutsu had had the common sense to use the stadium communications system. Kabuto had destroyed the relays to the outside speakers so the Jonin was unable to use the speakers to wake the people in the stands up. However, Kabuto had missed several secondary relays in the communications system's electrical grid. This oversight had allowed the unknown Jonin to alert the people in the medical wing and the storage areas to the attack.

Upon exiting out into the stadium benches, Naruto turned to look around at the situation in front of him. Spotting Makoto, Ino, and the rest of Tsukino party Naruto immediately turned and ran towards them. Looking at the 5 girls Naruto could see that they had all spotted him as he was running to them. From the looks in their eyes it was obvious that they were looking to him for some sort of plan. This made sense to Naruto as the Sailor Scouts were used to following the orders of a member of the Lunar Royal family. As for Ino, without orders from a superior she was falling back on Naruto do to the fact that he was the unofficial second in command of Team Maelstrom.

Thanks to his training and experience Naruto didn't panic under the pressure of the situation at hand. Drawing on the tactical skills he had developed over the years, Naruto thought about what he had on hand and what he knew of the situation. With a firm resolve in his eyes Naruto said in a confidence inspiring voice, "Okay girls here's the plan. Ino and Makoto are to go down to the arena and wake up Kiba and Shino. Tell those two to go to Kakashi or Guy and help out defending the stadium. You two girls are to then head towards the Ninja Acadamy and help out defending the students. Kill any and all enemy ninjas that you encounter on the way that you can. Leave any Suna or Oto ninja that is not attacking alone for now unless they attack you. Get going, those students' lives are important!"

Makoto and Ino both gave Naruto a quick nod before heading off to do what he had told them. Turning to face the remaining girls Naruto continued talking, "Setsuna and Hotaru, you're to go and protect the Hospital. Your orders regarding enemy ninjas are the exact same as Makoto and Ino's. Go now. Ami, head over to the Hokage Tower. Once your there you are to report to whoever is in charge of the defenses right now. According to Grandfather Sarutobi all of the Jonin and most of the Chunin know that you have the Mercury computer and they are aware that it has powerful scanning capacities. Your job is to give the person in charge real-time troop movement information."

Looking around him Naruto saw that his orders were being promptly carried out. He was just about to join in with the Jonin and Chunins in the defense of the stadium when Naruto noticed something. Right where the Kage box was located was a giant purple rectangle. Also, Naruto noticed that there was a squad of ANBU standing around outside of rectangle looking at whatever was happening within the enclosed area. For a second Naruto wondered why on Earth the ANBU were just standing around instead of going through the roof and around the barrier. Suddenly Naruto remembered that he had read about the jutsu that had created the barrier. According to the book he had read, the Jutsu greatly reinforced the ground inside the barrier preventing escape or entrance through that route.

Thinking over what he knew, Naruto figured that Sarutobi was currently trapped inside that barrier without any method of escape. Most likely that barrier wasn't to keep the Hokage out of the fight while Konoha was under attack. Rather, the barrier's purpose must be to prevent reinforcements from coming to Sarutobi's aid so that the enemy could deal a decapitating blow to Konoha. Naruto, who knew that he was the only one with a chance of saving Sarutobi; shouted out, "Moon Crystal Armor, Energize!" As his Moonlight Knight transformation happened to him; Naruto wondered what the enemy was planning. Sarutobi might be past his prime, but taking Sarutobi down would still be a monumental task.

* * *

Inside the barrier, Sarutobi threw off his white Hokage robes and his Hokage hat. Sarutobi then growled out, "Enough talk Orochimaru. Today I finish what I should have completed all of those years ago!" With that said, Sarutobi threw a shuriken at Orochimaru. Quickly running through the handsigns, Sarutobi called out, "Shuriken Shadow Clone jutsu." Sarutobi's single shuriken suddenly turned into several dozen shuriken.

Orochimaru just stood where he was smirking. Quickly running through half a dozen handsigns Orochimaru called out, "Summoning Jutsu: Resurrection to an Impure World. First!" With that said, a purple vortex appeared in front of Orochimaru. From the vortex a golden casket with the word 'Shodai' written on it ominously arose. The shock on Sarutobi's face at the appearance of the golden casket was delicious to Orochimaru. To further his plans, and complete his defense against the oncoming shuriken, Orochimaru called out, "Second!" In response to Orochimaru's summons a second purple vortex appeard and another golden casket, this time marked with the word 'Nidaime' arose.

Inside his head Sarutobi was truly starting to worry and was also thoroughly horrified that Orochimaru would dare to use such a twisted and unholy jutsu. Sarutobi however knew that Orochimaru wasn't finished just yet. The Snake Sanin's ego would not stop with just the Shodai and the Nidaime. No, Orochimaru would most likely summon the Yondaime so that he could gloat as Sarutobi's predecessors killed Sarutobi. Hiding behind the two summoned caskets, Orochimaru gleefully called out, "Third."

With more speed then he had ever used in forming handsigns before Sarutobi prepared to stop Orochimaru's jutsu. Whatever the outcome of this fight, Sarutobi vowed, the third casket would not rise! The third golden casket, distinguished from its predecessors with the word 'Yondaime' written on it, slowed its ascent. To Orochimaru's anger the casket stopped rising completely when it was midway up before starting to descend back into the purple vortex from where it came. Although he was angered by the loss of the third summon, Orochimaru figured that the Shodai and the Nidaime would be enough to utterly destroy Sarutobi.

The two heavy lids of the Shodai and Nidame's caskets let out wisps of smoke before falling to the ground with a loud crash. Just as Sarutobi had feared, there inside their marked caskets were the Shodai and the Nidame looking just like Sarutobi remembered from his youth. Both deceased men slowly and wearily walked out of their caskets. The two Hokages turned to look at each other and then at Sarutobi. With a nod from the Shodai, the Nidaime addressed Sarutobi, "We almost didn't recognize you Sarutobi. The years have hopefully been kind to you?" Lost for words Sarutobi could only nod his head towards his old teacher. The Nidaime continued saying, "We warned you Sarutobi about him. Now it seems like even the grave no longer commands any respect from your one time student. What ever the age may be, there is always war."

Putting his hands behind his back, Orochimaru said, "Enough chat from you two." Bringing his hands back into view Orochimaru held out two kunai each connected a seal inscribed piece of paper. Walking up to the two lethargic Hokage summons, Orochimaru said, "The Shodai and the Nidaime built Konoha, trained you sensei Sarutobi, and chose you to look after Konoha when they died." While placing kunai in his hands into the two Hokages' heads, Orochimaru continued to talk. "How ironic and fitting that they now in death help in the destruction of all that they cherished in life."

Sarutobi could only watch in sadness as the caring eyes that had guided and inspired him as a child grew cold and void. The tired and weak bodies that Orochimaru had summoned grew strong and regained all the vigor that the two brothers had had at their prime. Although he had only read about Summoning Jutsu: Resurrection to an Impure World once before he had ordered all information on it once; Sarutobi had never forgot what he had read about that unholy jutsu. Very soon now, Sarutobi knew, he would be facing the Shodai and the Nidaime with all of their strength and cunning. Unlike the spars he had had with these two in his youth, this was a fight to the death.

This knowledge filled Sarutobi with fear and dread. Shodai and Nidaime had taught him everything about being a ninja. Those two knew what made him tick, they knew how he thought, they knew how he fought, and they were masters of the shinobi arts on a level that Sarutobi doubted he had ever reached. It may have been over forty years since they had fought against him but Sarutobi knew that they might as well have fought with him last week. Sarutobi had grown and learned many things since those two had passed away but his fighting style really hadn't changed in those decades. As he prepared for battle the only thing he could do was pray for a miracle. Suddenly a loud voice called out, "SELENE SHIELD SHATTER!"

* * *

Naruto, now in his Moonlight Knight outfit, did one quick look around him and then sped off towards the Kage booth. As Naruto approached the Kage booth, the ANBU standing outside the barrier noticed him and got into a defensive posture. Before the ANBU could question Naruto the boy leaped into the air, pulled out his side dagger, and threw the dagger shouting out, "Selene Shield Shatter." To the surprise of the watching ANBU, and the horror of the Sound Four, Naruto's glowing white dagger struck the purple barrier and instantly caused it to shatter. Landing next to Sarutobi in a crouching position Naruto looked at the Shodai and the Nidaime and said through his face mask, "Sorry for being tide up Lord Hokage. I would have come sooner but I needed to see that my senshi had received their instructions."

A smirk came on Sarutobi's face and he said, "That is alright Moonlight Knight, you've arrived just on time. I trust that Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto are all in useful locations?" Quickly glancing to his right Sarutobi saw Moonlight Knight, aka Naruto, nod his head. Two months ago when the girls had shown up looking for Usagi, Sarutobi had had a conversation with the four Sailor Scouts and their prince. It had been decided then that the Sailor Scouts along with Naruto would be legally considered a special defense team of Konoha. All this meant was that if Konoha was ever attacked, like it was now for instance, the Sailor Scouts would help out with the defense with Naruto being their technical leader.

Thanks to his training with G'Kar and Jiraiya Naruto was able to greatly strengthen his sensory abilities that he had developed. Focusing those abilities on the Shodai and Nidaime in front of him Naruto could tell that conventional jutsu would be useless to win against them. With deadly seriousness in his voice Naruto said, "Lord Hokage, leave your predecessors to me. Abominations like these two happen to be my specialty. If I may be so bold, I do remember that your grandson was hoping to receive a pair snakeskin boot for his birthday."

Orochimaru looked on in absolute hatred at the unknown ninja decked out all in white. First this Moonlight Knight has the nerve to break an impenetrable barrier. Then this punk actually dared to suggest that Sarutobi use him, Orochimaru, as a source for a pair of boots for Sarutobi's snot nosed brat of a grandson! Seeing Sarutobi actually laughing at this punk's joke almost caused Orochimaru to fly into a rage. However Orochimaru knew that couldn't do that in the situation he had found himself in. The Sound Four were tide up in keeping the ANBU squad away from him and Sarutobi. Moonlight Knight had was currently drawing his katana and appeared ready to attack. Finally Orochimaru saw his old sensei summoning Monkey King Enma. Drawing the Kusanagi sword from his mouth, Orochimaru vowed not to let his victory escape him.

As he prepared to attack the Shodai and the Nidaime Naruto quickly thought over his options. Thanks to his sensing abilities Naruto knew that he was able to generate a good deal more energy then either summoned Hokage could by themselves. However, Naruto knew that his skills weren't equal to the Shodai or the Nidaime. If he didn't take this fight very seriously there was a good chance that he would die. The only solution that Naruto could see to his situation was to try and take his foes out in a blitzkrieg assault so that they couldn't use their greater experience and their teamwork to kill him.

Rushing at the summoned Hokages Naruto made a slashing motion with his sword Naruto unleashed a Serenity Slash attack at the Shodai and the Nidaime. His opponents' reaction time was faster then Naruto had suspected and they jumped out the way of Naruto's attack. With a quick and fluid motion Naruto sheathed his sword while pivoting around on his foot to face his foes. Crossing his arms Naruto called out, "Shadow Clone Jutsu," immediately creating thirteen shadow clones. The clones split into two even attack groups with one clone saying behind and each group attacked the Shodai and the Nidaime to keep them separate.

Each group of shadow clones was using a basic squad attack pattern for assaulting a single superior ninja. In an effort to keep their targets on the defensive, the clones were using one jutsu at a time from each member of the team and had split up so that they couldn't be taken out in a single attack. Both the Shodai and the Nidaime seemed for the most part to be sticking to a defensive attack strategy. For the most part all attacks that the shadow clones did were deflected by the Shodai and Nidaime's wood and water barriers respectively. Those few times that an attack got through their barriers, like when one of Naruto's shadow clones grew impatient and tried a Selene Shield Shatter, the Shodai and Nidaime quickly dogged out of the way and to safety.

A few feet away from the Nidaime and the Shodai, Naruto and his remaining shadow clone were standing shoulder to shoulder with an arm each stretched out in front of them. A golden crescent shaped bow slowly extended from each of their outstretched arms until a bow a tall as they were had formed. Reaching out with their free hands, both Naruto and his shadow clone pulled on in invisible 'bow string' until the bows were 'pulled' all the way back. In synchronization Naruto and his shadow clone called out "Artemis Arrow!" From the two Narutos' outstretched hands came flying a long bolt of white celestial chakra that was shaped into the rough shape of an arrow. These two arrows flew at mach speed towards the Shodai and the Nidaime and struck them strait in the chest.

Instantly everyone on the battlefield stopped fighting and as one all turned to look at two Hokages. Both the Shodai and the Nidaime had a large white arrow skewering them through the chest. The arrows then seemed to melt onto the Hokages, covering them in a layer of white energy. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light blinding everyone on the rooftop battlefield. When the flash of light ended allowing everyone to look at where the two summoned Hokages were they couldn't believe their eyes. There standing right where they had been were the Shodai and the Nidaime but they were dressed completely differently then they had been. Both Hokages were dressed in a strange armor that Naruto recognized as being like European armor from Earth. Also, there was a slight glow emanating from the Shodai and the Nidaime. The glow surrounding the Shodai was a light green glow while the glow surround the Nidaime was a soft blue glow.

Both the Shodai and the Nidaime turned around to face Naruto and then kneeled before him. With a respectful voice both of them called out from their kneeling position, "Long life and strength to you my liege! May the favor of the Goddess never depart from the House of Serenity and may your reign be just and prosperous my King." The Shodai then said after his and his brother's greetings were said, "Thank you for freeing us my King from the ensnarement of that foul traitor. We would gladly offer our swords in service to you as is proper my King. However," at this point the Shodai looked down as his body below his knees had disappeared before continuing, "My brother and I must return to the land of the dead."

The Nidaime then started talking for the duo and said in a voice full of reverence and devotion, "While we ourselves may not be able to serve you my King. This is a way that we may be able to help you even as we go back to the land of the dead. We won't be able to help you and we are sorry for the pain we have caused but in the end the Royal Guard shall be even stronger then ever." With that said the two brothers shouted out, "Atavism of the Warrior Royalty!" Both the Shodai and the Nidaime then disappeared in a pillar of green and blue light. These pillars of light then shot into the sky.

* * *

Over at the ninja academy Ino and Makoto were busy taking care of a squadron of Sound ninjas. The duo had managed to arrive just in time to witness a squad of Sound ninjas getting ready to attack the academy students as the teachers frantically tried to get the kids away. That particular squad of ninjas was currently lying all over the streets with their heads separated from their bodies. Ino had taken care of them quickly by using her death angel gloves to wrap the thin threads around their throats and with a quick jerk of her hands severe the heads off. She was sure that the kids who had witnessed the beheadings would have nightmares for months. Actually, if it wasn't for Anko making her practice attacking dummies that were under a Genjutsu to look like real people and realistically 'die' Ino was sure that she would be having nightmares as well.

Makoto was currently in her Sailor Jupiter form attacking several Sound ninjas with her Sparkling Wide Pressure attack. If she were in her civilian form Makoto knew that she would most likely have been killed a while ago because she currently barely rated as a genin and these were Chunin she was fighting. Thanks to the senshi powerful Makoto currently had the power of a Sennin at her disposal. Also Makoto was also very used to working with her improved reflexes and enhanced strength that came with the increase of power. Thus Makoto was finding it rather easy to dispose of her opponents as she and Ino held the remaining Sound ninjas back so that the Academy teachers could get the students away to safety.

Ino was getting ready to call over to Makoto to warn about an approaching squad of Sound ninjas when Ino heard a blood curling scream. Looking over in shock and horror Ino saw Makoto screaming out in agony as her body suddenly started emanating a bright green light. Massive bolts of lighting suddenly came wildly shooting out from Makoto. When the lighting that came from Makoto hit the ground or a building a massive growth of tree limbs quickly formed. Easily dogging several sudden tree growths herself, Ino saw the skewered bodies of two dozen Sound ninjas. Several of these Sound ninjas were, to Ino's secret horror, still alive as they had been impaled in non instant kill spots. Amid this symphony of agony Ino watched as Makoto's body fell limply to the ground and Makoto turned back into her civilian form.

* * *

G'Kar was ridding on one of the snake summons that had tried to attack Konoha he had taken control of. Jiraiya and G'Kar had divided Konoha into two with G'Kar in charge of taking care of the enemy summons from the south and Jiraiya doing the same for the North. The Narn warrior suddenly felt a powerful attack emanating from the Hokage tower that was towards his back. Turning around G'Kar looked back and saw a massive pillar of ice rise up from the center of the Hokage Tower. This tower of ice suddenly shattered into hundreds of pieces. Each piece of the former massive pillar went flying off into the sky disappearing from view.

Standing completely still G'Kar watched in awe and shock as several hundred pillars of water came flying down like angry dragons all over Konoha and the surrounding forest. From his position on top of the summoned snake G'Kar watched as several pillars of water flew past him and struck the Suna ninjas that he was currently chasing. Although there was no one around to hear him, G'Kar started to repeat several verses that he had been told as a child. "And it will come to pass while the King is still young that two warriors from ages past shall offer a tribute to the young King. Acknowledging him as their Sovereign they shall repent of their misdeeds to him by offering two of the four future Queens their power. To the King himself they shall offer a tribute of blood drawn from the King's enemies."

* * *

Standing on the edge of the roof Orochimaru look on around him with fear in his yellow eyes. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing all around him, the Summoning Jutsu: Resurrection to an Impure World was supposed to be undefeatable! It allowed him, at the ridiculously cheep price of three useless brats, to call forth the greatest warriors that he could think of besides himself to fight on his behalf. The warriors summoned via this method were indestructible fighting machines were completely indestructible. Any damage that their opponents managed to do to the summons would be instantly regenerated. How could this 'Moonlight Knight' have the ability to stop an unstoppable jutsu?

Looking at the Sound Four, who currently were in their cursed seal level 2 forms, Orochimaru cursed his luck. Nothing was going his way. Sarutobi was still alive and well, from the cheering that was faintly being heard the invasion was rapidly falling apart, the Sound Four appeared to be on their last breaths thanks to the ANBU. As much as he hated to admit it, his genius plan for Konoha's destruction had fallen completely apart at the seams. Taking a quick glance at Moonlight Knight, Orochimaru raged in his mind. Where had a person with this power come from? Why had he not been notified by his spies that such a person existed in Konoha?

Orochimaru looked into the blue eyes of the Moonlight Knight and suddenly realized who he was. It was none other then the spawn of Minato who had done all of this to him. That boy had single handedly destroyed almost everything that Orochimaru had tried to do on this day. Oh how Orochimaru wanted nothing more at that moment to kill the spawn of that man who had seemed to have grown into an even bigger thorn for Orochimaru then his father ever had. However, Orochimaru knew that there was no way for him to gain his revenge today. Sounding the retreat, Orochimaru stared hatefully at Naruto even as he ran away. One day, Orochimaru vowed, he would get his revenge for this day.

* * *

Hidden in the shadows of one of the outer buildings of Konoha, Kabuto looked on in silent surprise. Reaching into his shirt Kabuto pulled out a small pitch black stone and set it onto his open palm. Pushing a small amount of his chakra into the stone a small pillar of darkness and flames soon arouse. Kabuto started to muse on his situation as the darkness and fames took a circular form. It was quite an interesting role he had played; pretending to be a loyal Konoha ninja and at the same time being a spy for Orochimaru. All the while, Kabuto had been doing nothing but furthering his true master's agenda. A hellish and demonic voice emanated from the floating circle as soon as it was formed. "Report on the situation Kabuto." 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: If you think that I actually own Sailor Moon or Naruto, get help, FAST!

Sarutobi was currently sitting in his office chair looking out at Konoha from the windows in the Hokage Office. As he was looking out Sarutobi was able to see signs here and there of the fight that had recently occurred because of Orochimaru. Although the damage was pretty devastating in some places of Konoha; it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Over all, Konoha had come out of that battle with relatively minor casualties. None of civilians had been killed and only about a twentieth of the ninja force of Konoha had been killed with a further tenth of the forces being treated for wounds. Accourding to the latest report that Sarutobi had received from the head doctor of the hospital almost all of the wounded ninjas were expected to make a full recovery and be ready to go back on the field by the end of the month.

Not that it looked like Konoha would have any serious threats to its security for a while, Sarutobi mused. Suna had discovered the fact that their Kazekage had been killed and impersonated by Orochimaru. This fact, combined with the serious losses to the higher levels of Suna's forces, had lead to Suna quickly requesting peace. From what Sarutobi had heard Suna's political situation was a total mess as factions in their high council fought over control of Suna. Actually the only thing that the various factions had been able to agree upon so far was the fact that peace with Konoha was essential. Seeing no reason to continue the hostilities Sarutobi was more then willing to sign a truce with the Suna council until such times as Suna could get properly organize and the two village leaders could meet to hammer out the details of a new peace treaty.

Focusing on one section of Konoha, Sarutobi watched as several ninjas worked to remove the 'trees' that had so suddenly sprung up in that area. The work that those ninjas were doing reminded Sarutobi of why Konoha's casualties had been so few. All the reports that Sarutobi received stated that almost half of the invading force had been killed due to the effects of those 'trees' and the water 'dragons' that had appeared at the same time. One thing that Sarutobi was sure of was that he owed the safety of his village to those two incidences. If it hadn't been for the 'Founders Fury' as people were calling the incidents then the battle wouldn't have ended so quickly and decisively as it had.

A frown crossed the old Hokage's face as he thought more about the people behind the 'Founders Fury'. It was obvious from what he had witnessed himself that if it wasn't for Naruto freeing the Shodai and the Nidaime from Orochimaru's jutsu that the 'Atavism of the Warrior Royalty' could never have happened. Personally Sarutobi had been on the verge of having a heart attack when he heard his old mentors refer to Naruto as 'King'. Luckily the ANBU that had heard the two temporarily resurrected Hokages speak had had the good sense to keep their mouths shut about that little part of the Shodai and Nidaime's speeches. If the public knew more then the fact that the former Hokages had apparently 'gifted' two people with their powers; Sarutobi shuttered to think of the political and public nightmare that would have arisen.

One thing about the 'Founders Fury' that had greatly upset Sarutobi was the fact that Makoto and Ami were currently stuck in a coma like state. From what the doctors' at the hospital had been able to figure out, the 'Atavism of the Warrior Royalty' that two girls had received from the Shodai and the Nidaime had overloaded girls' brains and chakra systems. The doctors had immediately reassured Sarutobi, Naruto, and the other distressed friends of the girls that Makato and Ami weren't in any permanent danger. Makoto and Ami, the doctors went on to explain, were currently in a recuperative state as their bodies and minds adjusted to the massive surge of chakra and information that the Shodai and the Nidaime had given to the girls.

While the girls' were apparently physically fine, their condition worried Sarutobi and all of the people close to them. The doctors had said that the girls could be in that state from anywhere from a week, to a month, or to a year. Simply put these kinds of things were ridiculously hard to give a time frame on, but the Head Doctor said that he and his staff were leaning towards the latter timeframes. Hotaru had offered to use her healing powers to speed up Makoto and Ami's recovery once she had rested up from taking care of the other wounded ninjas. However, the Head Doctor had forbade Hotaru from doing that stating that there were simply too many unknowns and that the doctors at Konoha wouldn't be able to advise her due to their inadequate skills for this sort of thing.

Sarutobi's face frowned as he thought about what those doctors had told him. He didn't hold a grudge against them because they had all done their best to help the girls and everyone else that was injured in the attack. It just wasn't fair in Sarutobi's mind that two of the three people who had done the most to save Konoha should be laid up like they were. Thinking about the situation Sarutobi kept on coming back to the one thing that was hampering the girls' speedy recovery: expertise. Pressing a button on his desk Sarutobi called out in a firm voice, "Get me Jiraiya. I've got a job for him."

* * *

Ino approached the front door of the Tsukino Clan House and politely knocked on the door. Less then a minute later Ino had the door in front of her open to reveal Hotaru standing in the doorway. Hotaru's face was drooping a bit and didn't have the same sparkle that the young girl used to have. It wasn't hard for Ino to figure out that Hotaru's glum mood was because of Ami and Makoto's condition. Bowing her head slightly Ino gave a soft smile and said, "Hello Hotaru. May I please come in?"

Hotaru gave a polite nod of her head and stepped aside so that Ino could enter the house. Once Ino was inside Hotaru politely said, "I take it that you are here to see Naruto." Ino silently nodded her head to respond to Hotaru's question. Making a motion with her hand Hotaru said, "Naruto's this way follow me." With that said Hotaru lead Ino through the house and to a currently closed door. Turning to face Ino, Hotaru said, "He's currently inside. Please be quiet and not upset him, Naruto has barely left their sides except to sleep or do the minimum amount of exercise to keep in shape. Even then he is always near this room."

Ino silently nodded her head and watched as Hotaru gave her one last glance before the little girl walked away. Firmly grabbing the door handle Ino slowly opened the door and looked inside. There were two beds in the room on opposite sides of the room and there was a desk on the far wall from the door. Lying under the blankets each in one of the beds was Makoto and Ami. Both girls' faces were quite pale and neither girl moved a muscle as Ino watched their comatose forms. Turning to get a good look at the desk, Ino saw Naruto sitting at the desk hunched over like he was reading something. Closing the door behind her Ino walked over two Naruto and stood about a foot away from him.

For a minute Ino just stood there wondering if Naruto would ever acknowledge her presence in the room. With a deeply saddened voice Naruto tiredly said, "Whose there and what do you want?" Naruto then turned around to face Ino and he said, "Oh Ino, it's you. Why did you come here?"

Looking down at the normally exuberant blonde, Ino could see how badly Naruto was taking Makoto and Ami's condition. Instead of the cheerful face she was used to seeing all that Ino could see was lonely and depressed young man. Her concern and worry carrying over in her voice, Ino softly said, "Naruto, I came here to check up on you. It's not right for you to be sitting here running on automatic like you have been these past few days."

Naruto's face a bit and he said in a cold voice, "It's not right? I'll tell you what's not right! What's not right is the fact that Makoto and Ami are currently lying on these beds next to us in a coma. Konoha probably owes its current state as a major power in the elemental countries to Makoto and Ami who lying there right now. We would have lost dozens or maybe hundreds of ninjas if it hadn't been for those two and how are they repaid? Their repaid by being stuck in a stupid coma that the doctors can do nothing about! Is that how Konoha rewards those who do the most to save the village?"

At that point Naruto broke down and started to cry right in front of Ino. With his face in his hands Naruto started to speak between sobs of pain. "It's my entire fault that Makoto and Ami are like this. Their safety is my responsibility and I did this to them. I fired those shots at the Shodai and the Nidaime. All of their suffering at the moment can be traced back to my actions. How can I say that I lo- care for them if I treat them like this? Is this going to happen to all of those people who are close to me?"

Standing where she was, Ino heard everything, including the near admission of Naruto's feelings, which Naruto had said. A small part of Ino was annoyed that he hadn't made any declarations like that about her. However Ino ruthlessly, efficiently, and quickly obliterated such thoughts from her mind. This wasn't a contest; this was Naruto, the young man she had come to love, suffering over feelings of guilt. Wrapping her arms around Naruto, Ino let the young man cry on her shoulder. For the next few minutes Ino and Naruto remained where they were the room silent except from Naruto's sobs and tears.

As Naruto's tears and sobs slowly started to taper off Ino started to speak in soft comforting voice. "Naruto, listen to me. Do you really think that Makoto or Ami would want you to go on like this while their in this condition? You and I both know that they would want you to be your usual cheerful self even though they are in this condition. Besides, it's not really your fault that these things have happened. The Hokage himself has said that if it wasn't for you he would have been forced to use the Deal Demon Consuming Seal on the Shodai and the Nidaime in order to stop them. By your actions Konoha still has its leader and does not have to deal with the grief of three more of its leaders suffering in the belly of the Shinigami. Also it was the Shodai and the Nidaime's choice to give their powers to Makoto and Ami not yours. So you see Naruto, none of this is your fault."

Naruto looked up into Ino's face and had his eyes meet hers. "Why?" Naruto started to ask, "Why do you care so much about me and what I think on this issue. What is it about this situation that is so important to you?" Ino's actions were completely baffling to Naruto. The others in the house had been more than willing to give him his pace so why was Ino being so insistent?

Bringing her hand to gently rub Naruto's cheek Ino said softly. "I care so much about you Naruto and I'm so insistent because I love you. Luna, Hotaru, and Setsuna all care for you as well and I'm sure that they are trying to help you by letting you greave. However, you're grieving too much over Makoto and Ami for the condition that their in. They will get better I know that. Besides-" at this point Ino got a bit of a mischievous smile on her face, "-Makoto I know wants you as her husband. Ami wants you as well but is too shy to admit to her feelings." With that said Ino leaned down and softly kissed Naruto on the lips. After a few seconds Ino pulled back and said, "Just wait and see Naruto, everything will turn out alright." Ino then turned and walked out the door leaving a shocked and confused Naruto behind her.

* * *

A few days after 'the Ino incident' as Naruto liked to refer to it in his mind; Naruto and Jiraiya were walking into a small town in Fire Country. Jiraiya had been charged by Sarutobi with finding Tsunade so that she could heal Makoto, Ami, and several other people who were untreatable for the regular doctors. One thing that Jiraiya had requested before he had left Sarutobi's office was that he could take Naruto with him on the search. Sarutobi had quickly agreed to let Jiraiya take Naruto with him saying that it would do Naruto some good to go and help get Tsunade. With Sarutobi's okay, and a quick explination of what the trip was about, Jiraiya was easily about to obtain Naruto's cooperation.

In Naruto's hand as the student/teacher duo walked into the town was a small rubber ball. One thing that Jiraiya had promised Naruto when Naruto agreed to join Jiraiya on this quest was that Jiraiya would continue to teach Naruto. Declaring that Naruto had a firm enough grasp of the basics from his earlier training, Jiraiya had started to teach Naruto how to perform the Rasengan. Currently Naruto was in the middle of completing step two of the three steps needed to master the Rasengan. Thanks to his heavy training with Jiraiya and G'Kar Naruto was able to finish the first stage of the Rasengan very quickly. Naruto also fundamentally understood the point of the second stage of the Rasengan. The only reason why Naruto hadn't moved on to the third stage was because he hadn't found the amount of chakra that he needed to pop the ball yet.

As the duo was walking through town Jiraiya said, "You know Naruto, I have to wonder." Naruto turned his head to look at Jiraiya wondering what Jiraiya was going to say. Jiraiya then got a far away look in his eyes as he said, "Which of those cuties that are interested in you are you going to go after first?" A tic developed in Naruto's eye and the rubber ball in his hand suddenly popped. With a proud smirk on his face Jiraiya quickly said pointing to Naruto's hand, "Look at that kid, you were finally able to get the second stage done!" Mentally Jiraiya was cheering at a job well done in diverting Naruto's attention away from harming Jiraiya's body. Naruto was too distracted by the fact that he had completed the second stage of the Rasengan to remember Jiraiya's earlier comments.

Jiraiya then lead Naruto over to a hotel and got a room for the two of them to spend the night in. Just after Jiraiya had received the keys to the room, Jiraiya noticed that a reasonably attractive girl walked past the front desk and winked at him. With a slightly lecherous grin on his face Jiraiya handed Naruto the keys to the hotel room. Once Naruto had the keys in his hands Jiraiya told his young companion to go and wait in the hotel room. Naruto grumbled a bit about 'stupid perverted teachers' as he headed down the hall and to the hotel room. Once inside the hotel room Naruto claimed the farther bed as his own and hopped onto it.

Sitting on his bed in a lotus position Naruto started to contemplate his situation. More specifically Naruto was focusing on his marital condition. Ino's little revelation that Makoto, Ami, and Ino herself loved Naruto greatly surprised him. While Naruto did know that he would be required to have a polygamous marital status in order to insure that the Tsukino Clan didn't die out; he hadn't be expecting to hear about girls he would like to be with apparently willing to enter into such a relationship. Carefully thinking over his relationships with the various people that he knew Naruto came to the fact that he was in love, or at least very emotionally attached to, three girls with a fourth girl moving up to join the other three.

For a long time Naruto sat on his bed thinking on his options. Could he make such a relationship as Ino seemed to be possibly hinting at? Ino wouldn't mention Makoto and Ami's feelings for him unless she seemed to think that such a relationship would work; that much Naruto was certain about. What Naruto however was concerned about was whether he could give the girls he cared about the emotional support that they would need as his wives. Although Naruto had never been in any type of relationship with a girl before he knew that a relationship, especially marriage, needed more than just material goods and physical satisfaction. Thanks to the Tsukino Clan investments Naruto knew he had the material goods covered. As for the physical satisfaction, well Naruto was pretty sure that he wouldn't do too badly as long as he did what his partner asked him to do.

It all came back in Naruto's mind to the emotional support. The question on Naruto's mind was whether he had the capacity within himself to give the girls he cared about their own special moments alone. Did he have it in himself to treat them all equally as they deserved or would he show favoritism? Showing favoritism to one wife over any others that he might have would be completely unacceptable. The idea of using shadow clones to spend more time with the girls popped into Naruto's head before he destroyed it. Doing such a thing to the girls would be completely shameful to him and it would be degrading to the girls. If he did such a thing he might as well open his doors to every two bit tramp in Konoha; it would after all be the message of how much he valued the girls. There were no in betweens in such a situation Naruto mused; it was all or nothing.

Naruto was shaken out of his musings by a sudden sense of danger coming towards him. From what Naruto could instinctively tell, the approaching danger was strong and would pose a significant threat to him even if he was to go into senshi form. What was he to do? Unlike his fight with the Shodai and the Nidaime this was a very crowded area. If he tried to stop this coming danger Naruto was certain many innocent people would get hurt and even killed. So Naruto mused, what course of action would be the best for him to take?

* * *

Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki were both calmly walking down the hallway of the inn they knew Jiraiya had planed to stay the night at. While the two Akatsuki knew they would be out of their league if they tried to fight Jiraiya to get at the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, they had managed to divert the Toad Sennin away from the Jinchuuriki for the moment. Itachi knocked on the door of the hotel room and waited for Naruto to answer the door. The door opened just as Itachi expected to reveal Naruto. In an emotionless voice Itachi said, "You are coming with us Naruto."

Naruto took a steep back and said in a serious tone. "Why would two S-class criminals such as you want me? I highly doubt that this is some plot to get ransom money out of Konoha or the Tsukino personal accouts. Konoha has a strict zero-tolerance policy when it comes to criminal demands or hostage situations. Also, it is known that I have officially signed several unbreakable documents making it impossible for a single yen to be used from the Tsukino account for the purpose of ransoming myself. Besides, why would two S-class criminals stoop to something as mundane as hostage taking?"

Itachi's eyes narrowed and the former Konoha ninja said coldly, "You are correct Naruto that we have no interest in extracting monetary compensation from you. Rather, we are more interested in that which you carry. You know what it is that I speak of."

Naruto's face gained a little bit of a smirk and he said with a grin, "So you two want me for the Kyuubi eh? Well boys' I sorry to tell you but your too late. The Kyuubi has already been 'dealt' with and I don't mean being sealed inside of me. I mean the Kyuubi is already dead and the remains of his soul destroyed." Looking at the shocked faces of Itachi and Kisame, Naruto's smirk grew larger before he continued. "Don't know where you to have been the past few years but you obviously don't know me very well. The Tsukino bloodline grants me the ability to destroy any demon that is sealed within me. Tough luck for you two gentlemen; but I am sure that you are well aware of the fact that the life of a ninja is full of ups and downs."

Itachi's eyes narrowed and he said in a colder voice then he had used before, "You're coming with us Naruto. Your attempt at misdirecting us is futile; we are not genin Naruto. Come with us quietly now or we will use whatever means are necessary to assure you compliance. It is your choice but know this; you will be coming with us and your only choosing whether innocents are going to be hurt in the process or not."

Naruto closed his eyes and said, "I am not misdirecting you two; the Kyuubi is gone. However I will come with you to spare the civilians around us." With that said, Naruto took a steep towards the door and his captors stepped back so that he could come through the door. Once Naruto was through the door he was flanked on both sides by Kisame and Itachi who proceeded to lead Naruto down the hall.

The three of them had only begun to walk down the hallway when Sasuke suddenly appeared around the corner. Sasuke's sharingan eyes were blazing at Itachi and Sasuke said with a hate filled voice. "Itachi today is the day you die for what you did!" With that said Sasuke's left hand started to crackle as Sasuke powered up the Chidori. Running like a man possessed Sasuke race towards Itachi planning on ending his brother's life once and for all. As he racing towards Itachi, Sasuke barely registered Naruto's presence and completely ignored Naruto's pleas that Sasuke leave the area. All that was on Sasuke's mind were thoughts of finally being able to avenge his clan.

Unfortunately for Sasuke's vengeance things did not go as Sasuke had planed. Itachi twisted out of the way of Sasuke's Chidori attack and promptly punched Sasuke in the gut. Lifting his barely conscious little brother up off the ground by the collar of his shirt Itachi said, Worthless, absolutely worthless. I spared you only because I thought I saw the potential in you. However it seems like all I did was spare a piece of trash." With that said Itachi morphed his eyes into their Mangekyou form and looked into Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke let out a scream of agony before he became unconscious and was summarily dropped on the floor by Itachi. Turing to Kisame Itachi said, "It is time to go. The leader will be most please when we return with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki."

"I afraid that you two will have to cancel your plans for the brat," a voice from behind the trio said. Everyone who was still conscious turned around to see Jiraiya standing behind them with the girl that had distracted him lying unconscious on his shoulders. Jiraiya then said in a very angry voice, "There are several things that I take great offence at and hypnotizing beautiful women to do a person's dirty work is one of those things." Setting the unconscious girl down on the ground Jiraiya then laid his hands on the hotel floor and called out, "Toad Mouth Binding!" A soft pink flesh like substance spread from Jiraiya's hands and rapidly covered the entire hallway. Standing up Jiraiya said, "You to Akatsuki scum are going no where."

Itachi and Kisame looked down and noticed that their feet were firmly ensnared in the flesh like substance. With a slight hint of anger in his otherwise emotionless voice Itachi said, "Come Kisame. It would seem that a retreat is in order right now; we can come back for the Jinchuuriki latter." Morphing his eyes into their Mangekyou form once again Itachi looked at the side of Toad esophagus lined hallway that he knew was part of the outer wall of the hotel. Itachi then quietly said, "Amatesaru" and summoned the black flames of the sun goddess attack. The flames quickly ate through the Toad prison and revealed an exit that Itachi and Kisame quickly fled through.

Knowing that the fires of Itachi's attack could continue to burn for seven days, Jiraiya didn't go after the Akatsuki duo but stayed behind to seal the flames within a scroll. Once the flames were sealed and the toad esophagus dismissed Jiraiya turned to face Naruto to check on his young charge. However before Jiraiya could say anything, Naruto gave Jiraiya a fox grin and turned into a puff of smoke. "Shadow Clone," Jiraiya said with worry in his voice. Did Itachi somehow create a shadow clone and hedge it into Naruto without Jiraiya himself even noticing? Or did Naruto himself create the shadow clone? Jiraiya was about to go after Itachi and Kisame just to make sure that they didn't have Naruto when he notice someone he never expected to be there. With surprise and confusion in his voice Jiraiya said, "Gamakichi? What in the Elemental Countries are you doing here?!"

The little reddish-orange toad summons hopped next to Jiraiya and said, "Alright Naruto, the coast is clear you can come out now." Gamakichi kept his mouth opened after he had finished speaking and Jiraiya watched with complete surprise as a human hand appeared out of Gamakichi's mouth. Standing back Jiraiya watched as Naruto slowly emerged from his hiding spot in Gamakichi's mouth. Once Naruto was completely out of his mouth Gamakichi said, "If this is going to be a habit of yours Naruto, switch to mint soap. I don't mind helping you out bro but please be considerate of my taste buds. That antiseptic soap you use makes you taste like shit and I don't know about you but that's something I don't ever want to have in my mouth again!"

Naruto turned to face his little summoned friend and said with a grin on his face, "Sorry Gamakichi. I promise I'll go and buy mint soap as soon as I am able to do so." Turning to face Jiraiya Naruto said with a proud smile on his face, "So what do you thing Jirayia? I got Gamakichi to teach me the 'Hidden Toad Hideaway' jutsu. It's the only Toad Sennin Jutsu that Gamakichi is allowed to teach me so far but I think I've got it down reasonably well. Gamakichi told me that he'll be allowed to teach me the rest of the Toad Sennin Jutsus once I'm able to summon Gamabunta without transforming into my senshi form." Gamakichi then jumped onto Naruto's shoulder and gave a smug nod of his toad head.

Jiraiya could only look on the ninja and summon duo in shock. He hadn't been allowed to learn any of the Toad Sennin Jutsus for years even after he had managed to Summon Gamabuta. In fact Minato had barely started learning those jutsus before he died and Minato had been best friends with Gamabuta. With a sigh escaping his mouth Jiraiya said, "You really are the most unpredictable ninja to ever come out Konoha Naruto. You really are."

* * *

Omake:

At a corporate meeting room in down town Tokyo several non-descript businessmen were having a closed door meeting. The current issue of debate was the popular Naruto series. Due to how Masashi Kishimoto had been writing the past few episodes of the Naruto series these businessmen had grown worried over their profit margins. One of the nondescript people said, "We need a way for the character Naruto to become more powerful then he is being shown as. The fans are grumbling at the apparent superiority that Sasuke has over Naruto."

Another businessman then said, "How can we do it though? Kishimoto has made it so that the Kyuubi is unusable as a power-up and it is too late to realistically give Naruto something extra from his training with Jiraiya." These words caused a lot of murmuring among the assembled businessmen. For half an hour the businessmen debated about what they were to do before someone made a suggestion that was put into action.

And so it was that the fans of Naruto discovered that Naruto's maternal grandmother was none other then Lina Inverse who had been on the opposite side of the world for the past twenty years and who was finally coming back to the Elemental Countries. Thanks to his grandmother's teachings Naruto was quickly able to become Naruto the Orange Sorcerer and demolish Akatsuki.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Sailor Moon isn't that obvious?

After a week since the confrontation with the Akatsuki, Naruto and Jiraiya entered the town that Tsunade was supposed to be staying at. As Jiraiya led the duo through the town checking out the various bars and casinos for Tsunade, Naruto was busy trying to think up a plan. Tsunade had to come back to Konoha to heal Makoto, Ami, and other bedridden ninjas that the doctors back home couldn't help; failure was not an option. However, from what Naruto had pieced together from talking with Jiraiya, getting Tsunade to agree to come back would be a tricky proposition. Due to the personal tragedies that had happened to her Naruto figured that Tsunade would not be receptive to going to Konoha out of a sense of loyalty or duty. Strong arming Tsunade into coming back to Konoha was completely out of the question. Even if he could accomplish such a feat, which Naruto very much doubted he could do even if he went into his senshi form, it would be completely counter productive to the purpose of getting Tsunade to Konoha in the first place.

Taking a glance at Jiraiya, Naruto continued to analyze the situation that he knew was coming up between the duo and Tsunade once they finally found her. Most likely Jiraiya would try the guilt card mixed in with memories of the past and duty to try and get Tsunade to come to Konoha. Naruto figured that Jiraiya, besides Sarutobi of course, would have best shot out of anyone from Konoha at getting Tsunade to come back via this method. However Naruto wasn't holding his breath on the chance of Jiraiya getting Tsunade to come back. The question on Naruto's mind was how was he a stranger to Tsunade supposed to convince her while one of her oldest friends could not?

Suddenly, just when Naruto felt like pulling out his hair in frustration, Naruto had a bit of a revelation as his brain connected several stray thoughts together. Jiraiya was hunting for Tsunade in places that hosted many different forms of gambling. Tsunade was known in some circles as 'The Legendary Sucker' because she almost always lost a bet. Naruto himself was in need of the services of a doctor of Tsunade's caliber and was willing to spare no expense in getting those services. A small smile appeared on Naruto's face as he saw the makings a plan form in his mind. True the plan was completely unorthodox, but its uniqueness was what would most likely allow it to succeed.

Naruto then walked away from Jiraiya saying that he needed to visit the rest room. Once he was out of Jiraiya's sight, Naruto headed off to a private area behind a tavern that they had just checked. Immediately after checking to make sure that the coast was clear Naruto created two dozen shadow clones. One of the clones was sent to go after Jiraiya and keep Jiraiya unaware of what Naruto was doing. It wasn't that Naruto didn't trust Jiraiya but he figured that Jiraiya's attempts to complete this mission would hinder his own and ultimately jeopardize getting Tsunade back to Konoha. Turning around to look at his remaining clones Naruto motioned for them to start their part of the plan. Each clone transformed into a different looking person and then left the area to go look for Tsunade.

Back behind the tavern the original Naruto was standing and waiting for his shadow clones to locate Tsunade. Less then ten minutes later Naruto suddenly had several new memories that were the tell-tale sign of a shadow clone dispersing itself. Although most of these new memories were never consciously noticed by Naruto, the memories that Naruto needed were very prominent. Tsunade was currently in the middle of a card game in a bar that was on the other side of town then where Jiraiya was currently looking. Pulling out his wallet Naruto saw a decent amount of cash just like he had expected to be there. Everything was set for Naruto to begin his plan and so he took off to go to the bar that Tsunade was located in.

* * *

Tsunade was currently sitting at one of the side tables of a bar with a bottle of sake near her hand and a couple of cards in her other hand. Currently she was doing pretty well for the game, that being that she had managed to not loose any money. Not too unbelievable for her but it was impressive for this point in the game. The last round of the game had just finished when Tsunade notice a young man walk over to the table and stop a little ways away from the table. Noticing that the young man seemed to want to talk to her or at least someone at the table, Tsunade started to tap her fingers. Judging from the young man's face and the way he carried himself Tsunade figured that he wasn't a debt collector. With a light raise of her eyebrow Tsunade said, "Yes young man, what do you want?"

At this point the other people Tsunade had been playing with turned their heads a bit to notice that Naruto's presence. There was a calm and friendly smile on Naruto's face as he pleasantly said, "hello my name is Naruto. I was hoping, if you all would be so kind, to join you in your game that your playing. Odd request I know as most people looking to play a card game with strangers would go to one of the many casinos in town. However I have found the atmosphere in places like this to be better for playing cards in. In places like these you don't have to worry about distracting surroundings that many casinos use to try and help them remove your money." Seeing that he had piqued Tsunade and her companions' interest, Naruto pulled out a few thousand-ryo banknotes and deliberately did it in a way that everyone at the table could see that he had more money then that. With the banknotes in his hand Naruto said in his usual friendly voice, "So would you gentlemen and ladies mind too much if I join your game? If there is an entry fee I am more than willing to pay it."

Tsunade closed her eyes and thought about Naruto's request for a moment. Considering the fact that Naruto had done nothing hostile, had requested to join in a very polite way, and obviously had enough cash to cover the game Tsunade had no complaints with Naruto joining the game. When she opened her eyes and looked at the other people at table Tsunade could see that they didn't have a problem with Naruto joining either. After taking a sip from her saki bottle Tsunade said in a bored manner, "Pull up a chair kid and you can get your chips from Genma here." Naruto politely thanked Tsunade for letting him join before he calmly went and grabbed a chair from a nearby table. Just after Naruto had finished exchanging the cash in his hands for chips the dealer started passing out the cards and the game began.

Naruto, Tsunade, and the others at the table were currently play Kage; a card game that shared some similarities to poker. Unlike other common gambling card games Kage needed two decks in order to play but only one set of face cards were used in play. There was an unwritten rule that all ninjas knew how to play Kage and Naruto was no exception. Actually, Naruto enjoyed playing Kage and was a bit of an expert on the game. This experience of Naruto's, plus a little bit of luck, was what allowed Naruto to slowly and steadily dominate the game. Finally after about an hour of steady play Tsunade lost her last chip. This was the moment that Naruto was waiting for and he said in a friendly voice. "This is an excellent game Tsunade however it seems that you have run out of chips. If you wouldn't mind I would like to make a little wager with you. There are a few people in my home village that are all injured and in need of an expert doctor to get them back up to their former healthy condition. So Tsunade, would you be willing to wager your medical skills to help these people I mentioned against my winnings?"

Tsunade closed her eyes and thought about Naruto's little wager. Compared to several other wagers that she had been offered before in her lifetime, this was a very reasonable offer. Besides, judging from the look in Naruto's eye he would probably try and hire her to take care of these people if he lost the bet. Knowing this fact, and also due to the fact that she still had the desire to help tend people despite her current cynical outlook, Tsunade was more then willing to accept Naruto's bet. "Alright Naruto you've got yourself a deal." With that said Tsunade revealed her hand and everyone could see that it was one of the stronger wining hands known as Gondaime. Naruto just smiled and laid his cards on the table so that everyone could see his hand. Tsunade's eyes widened as she saw she had lost the bet because Naruto's hand was the Yondaime hand.

Grunting in acknowledgement of Naruto's win, Tsunade was about to ask Naruto where his home village was when a loud commotion came from the front of the bar. Her shock was quite visible on her face as Tsunade heard her old teammate Jiraiya yell out, "Alright brat where are you!" Across the table from Tsunade Naruto was shaking his head and muttering something under his breath. Jiraiya then marched towards the bar and stopped directly behind Naruto. Tsunade watched in surprise as Naruto turned around to look at Jiraiya and Jiraiya began to chew Naruto out. "What were you thinking Naruto when you left that Shadow Clone with me? We're supposed to be looking for Tsunade so that she can heal those people back in Konoha, not sitting back and relaxing!"

Naruto then replied in his defense, "Will you pay attention to your surroundings Jiraiya? In case you haven't noticed Tsunade is sitting at this table." At this point Jiraiya looked up and noticed that Tsunade was glaring at him. Before Jiraiya could say anything Naruto continued on, "For your information Jiraiya, I've already gotten Tsunade to agree to come and take care of those patients who need her expertise. In fact I was just about to tell Tsunade about Makoto, Ami, and everyone else's medical conditions and where they are currently at when you came in here causing a scene."

Tsunade watched the argument between Jiraiya and Naruto with great attention to detail. Using several medical jutsus without being noticed Tsunade sped up the breakdown of the alcohol in her bloodstream removing the buzz and becoming sober once again. She never liked sobering up that way as it was a bit uncomfortable but Tsunade figured she needed her mental faculties in top condition to deal with what was going on. It was plainly obvious now to her that, although Naruto had a great deal of personal interest at stake, Naruto and Jiraiya were on a mission to get her to go back to Konoha to heal some people. While a small portion of Tsunade was annoyed that Naruto had apparently tricked her into going back to Konoha, Tsunade was very impressed with what Naruto had done. She had seen many things since she first became a ninja but Tsunade had never seen a person complete a mission through gambling!

And the fact that Naruto had completed his task was something that Tsunade was sure of because she intended to follow through with her bet. Tsunade didn't know why she wanted to follow through with this bet but she did know that she would. Perhaps, Tsunade mused, it was because of the look in Naruto's eye when he mentioned wanting her to heal a few people. Even with the knowledge that Naruto was on a mission to find her didn't affect what she saw in those eyes. Those eyes of Naruto's seemed to shine with a desire to help the people that needed to be healed that were too pure to ever be replicated by even the best ninjas. Also, although it wasn't widely known, Tsunade still spent a lot of her time being a doctor in the various villages that she passed through; she had to get her money from somewhere after all. Tusnade wrapped her hand around her sake bottle and then called out, "Naruto, go talk to my assistant Shizune while I have a chat with my old teammate. Don't worry we're all leaving for Konoha in the morning, a bets a bet after all."

* * *

In the morning Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya, and Naruto were all on the road back to Konoha; Jiraiya in the lead of course because Tsunade and Shizune didn't want Jiraiya looking at their rears for the whole trip. Naruto, who was walking in between Shizune and Tsunade, was currently quietly talking about what had been going on in Konoha since the two ladies had left. Although Jiraiya had told Tsunade about some of the major changes in Konoha like failed invasion, Naruto still added a lot of important facts about Konoha that wouldn't seem too important until you needed them. Chatting with Naruto reminded Tsunade about her old talks with her brother before he died but surprisingly didn't cause her to become upset.

At around mid-morning as the group was rounding a slight bend in the road they found their way blocked by 12 ninjas dressed like ANBU all in black. However there were several differences between these ninjas and the ANBU in how they dressed. First of all, the animal mask that these ninjas were wearing had black backgrounds instead of white backgrounds. Next, the masks that these ninjas were wearing were more ornate then ANBU masks in that they were actually shaped into the head of the animal they represented instead of just having designs of the animals painted on. Finally these twelve ninjas were wearing long dark brown cloaks and radiating a great deal of Killing Intent. The pseudo ANBU with the Raven mask then said in a neutral but somehow still hostile tone, "Tsunade of the Sannin you shall come with us to SEED headquarters or you will be killed like these two usurpers."

Everyone in the Konoha party narrowed their eyes when those ninjas mentioned SEED. That was the name that 'The Fallen' had taken when they had fled from Konoha. There wasn't a whole lot known about SEED as they had mostly stayed off the radar since they had fled; it was commonly held that SEED was busy setting themselves up in their new base. What SEED was planning was unknown but considering what SEED's members had done with ROOT and REI the Konoha bound party was willing to bet that they wouldn't like the answer. Tsunade got into a defensive position and she said, "I don't think that I'll be going with you guys. Besides, I doubt that you could keep up with a lady like me." Normally Tsunade would never taunt an opponent but Jiraiya had told her all about REI. As a doctor and as a human being she was horrified and disgusted by what she had heard these animals were willing to do.

The Raven masked SEED ninja lowered its head slightly and then said in a cold voice, "Eliminate all of them." With that said the twelve SEED ninjas rushed forward to attack the four Konoha ninjas. Naruto, Tsunade, Shizune, and Jiraiya all jumped away from each other to get out of the way of several fire jutsus that were launched by the charging attackers. In response to the four's separation the twelve SEED ninjas split up into groups of three to attack the Konoha ninjas. As each of the Konoha ninjas landed on the ground they noticed their approaching attackers and prepared to defend themselves. Naruto quickly used a super-charged Shadow Clone Shuriken to attack his opponents while Jiraiya, who was about 100 meters away from Naruto, quickly used a swamp of the underworld to cover the spot that his own attackers were approaching. Shizune quickly started running backwards and at the same time released her poison mist attack so that her attackers would have to go through the mist. Finally Tsunade used her monstrous strength to create a mini earthquake to knock her opponents off their feet.

Naruto looked at his oncoming attackers and smiled as he saw that one of the attackers was on the ground bleeding heavily and the other two had several of his shadow clone shuriken stuck to their uniforms. There was a mischievous look in Naruto's eyes as he shouted out, "Explode!" Instantly Naruto's side of the battlefield was covered in the smoke made from all of the shadow clones exploding. Tsunade, her fear of blood forgotten due to her rage at what SEED represented, was just finishing up bashing in the heads of her opponents. Jiraiya watched with a stern expression as his own opponents' heads slowly fell into the swamp he had created. Finally Shizune launched a spread of senbon needles coated in an extremely powerful nerve toxin to hit her attackers and thus speed up their deaths.

Looking around the battlefield Naruto could only wonder why the battle was over so quickly. Surely SEED wouldn't send a team this weak to try and kill Tsunade or was it that the SEED leaders honestly expected that Tsunade would join their cause? That thought didn't make any sense to Naruto as he didn't figure that 'delusional' was a word that could be used to describe SEED's leadership. The only other possibility that Naruto could think of was that SEED was expecting to just have to face Tsunade and Shizune. Six to one odds made more sense to Naruto for this kind of fight then the three to one odds that had actually occurred. Turning to face his companions Naruto said, "Let's get on the road. There's nothing for us to do here and we need to get to Konoha, besides grandpa Sarutobi should be notified that The Fallen are on the move."

Everyone else nodded their heads at Naruto's suggestion and started to regroup at the now damaged road to continue heading to Konoha. Suddenly Naruto, who was at the back of the group, felt a wave of _wrongness _suddenly come from behind him. Naruto spun around and got into a defensive posture because whatever had caused that feeling he had felt, it was as unnatural as Orochimaru. Looking back at the battlefield Naruto's eyes widened and he let out a particularly foul curse. Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune turned around wondering why Naruto let out a curse and their eyes bulged out when they saw what Naruto was looking at.

There on the battlefield was the half-destroyed body of one of their opponents standing strait up. Out of the body's empty arm sockets, neck, and right knee came many small black string-like things. These 'tentacles', for lack of a better word, rushed out from the SEED ninja's body and towards the dead bodies of its comrades. Everyone watched in silent horror as these tentacles latched on to the dead ninja's bodies, ripped parts of those bodies off of the corpses, carried the body parts to the standing half-destroyed body, and finally attached the stolen body parts onto the standing body. The SEED abomination, for such a monster couldn't possibly be called a man, rolled its stolen head as if working the kinks out of its neck. As everyone looked on they saw that there were no signs on the body that it had just been _repaired._ With an insane and evil grin on its face the monster said, "The Living Corpse bloodline, one of the finest that REI has ever produced."

Immediately after speaking the SEED ninja rushed to start round two of the fight. Naruto, who had had to jump in order to avoid the SEED ninja's kunai, transformed into Moonlight Knight and was about to try and destroy this abomination when he stopped right in his tracks. Currently the fight between the SEED ninja and other three Konoha ninjas was an all out kenjutsu/taijutsu battle. Over the sounds of the battle Naruto heard Tsunade scream out, "What the Hell? Medical jutsus are completely useless on this guy; it's like he's dead or something!" Right after Tsunade said that she punched the enemy's elbow hard enough to shatter the elbow. However to the Sanins' and their apprentices' shock, the SEED ninja's elbow repaired itself practically in an instant.

Naruto was standing where he was wondering how on earth he could hope to defeat this monster. Whenever Naruto's three teammates tried to separate from the SEED ninja so bigger jutsus could be used one of them was always followed closely by the SEED ninja. From where he was standing Naruto couldn't see how he was supposed to use his senshi attacks that seemed to be so desperately needed to end the fight. If he tried to use Artemis Arrow Naruto was sure that he would be attacked before he could finish forming the attack. Serenity Slash couldn't be used by Naruto as he knew that one of his companions would be seriously hurt by the attack as well with how close the SEED ninja was to them.

Standing where he was Naruto began to fear for the outcome of the battle. Trying to communicate any possible plan to Naruto's companions so he could use his Moonlight Knight attacks was pointless. After all, Tsunade and Shizune would most likely not know the revised battle code and this wasn't the kind of minor league fight where you could just have your enemy overhear your plan. No mater how Naruto looked at the situation it seemed like someone was going to have to die or be critically injured before their opponent could be brought down. Silently Naruto began to pray for a solution to come to him so that he could save his teammates' lives.

For their part in the battle Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Shizune were getting frustrated and they were also beginning to feel the first faint signs of battle fatigue. On all of their minds was a single question: How on earth do you kill a corpse? Jiraiya thought that he could possible kill their opponent with a powerful fire jutsu but he just wasn't getting a safe opening to use one of his fire jutsus. Tsunade was getting frustrated as she had been sending blows on this SEED scum's head that could knock Gamabunta out cold and this thing was still in the fight. As for Shizune she was the most venerable member of the party due to the fact that her jutsu arsenal was useless against the SEED ninja and Shizune's taijutsu skills were barely at the level that most Chunin were expected to have.

As if sensing the trouble that the Konoha party was having the battle, the SEED ninja started to speak in a maniacal way. "Can't you people see that it's useless to fight against me? This, this is the power that you usurpers and traitors tried to destroy. You've all done your best to let the great tree that is Konoha wither and root, but you won't succeed in the end. Eventually we of SEED shall burn the corrupt tree that you all support making way for the creation of a new and better Konoha. Why do you all prolong the inevitable? As sure as my heart beats I can tell you this: you are all going to die."

The SEED ninja's barb about his beating heart caused a flash of inspiration to come to Naruto. "His heart," Naruto whispered to himself, "could it be that the heart is his Achilles' heel?" Looking down at his own hand Naruto realized what he needed to do in order to win this fight. Raising his right hand up in front of him, Naruto grabbed the base of his right hand with his left and concentrated with all of his might. A hollow blue sphere formed in Naruto's opened hand and was almost instantly filled with a vortex of blue Chakra. Looking at his hand Naruto almost couldn't believe that he had actually formed his father's legendary Rasengan.

Raising his gaze towards the rest of his companions and the fight they were in, Naruto scolded himself for forgetting for a moment that he was in the middle of a fight. Knowing what he needed to do Naruto started to charge towards the unknown SEED ninja. As Naruto approached the group Jiraiya sensed Naruto and turned to see Naruto. When Jiraiya saw the look in Naurto's eye and the Rasengan in Naruto's hand Jiraiya instantly realized what Naruto intended to do. Jiraiya gave Naruto a 'he's all yours kid' grin and then jumped away so that Naruto would have a clear shot at the SEED ninja's back. This action was something that Naruto was thankful for because it meant that he wouldn't need to ruin the element of surprise. Closing the final steeps between him and his opponent's back, Naruto let loose a battle scream and then he shoved the Rasengan into the SEED ninja's back.

The instant that the Rasengan was shoved into the SEED ninja's back Tsunade, who was in front of the ninja at this time, could see a look of shock on the ninja's face. As Naruto drilled the Rasengan deeper into the SEED ninja a look of immense pain crossed the SEED ninja's face. On the instant that Naruto made contact with the heart, the SEED ninja let out an inhuman scream of agony. Suddenly a black smoke started to emanate from the SEED ninja's body and the four Konoha ninjas watched in shock as their enemy's body began to fall apart. After seeing their enemy literally fall apart, the battlefield was quite for a few minutes.

Jiraiya was the one to break the silence by turning to Naruto and saying, "Good job Naruto. It seems that you're getting to be the person to call whenever weird things need to be taken care of. Now why don't you transform out of that outfit of yours so that we can leave." Naruto nodded his head and promptly a flash of sliver light covered Naruto. When the light receded an instant later Naruto was out of his Moonlight Knight uniform and back in his regular clothes. After that battle and witnessing what Naruto just did Tsunade really wanted to go get drunk.

* * *

In the Suna Council Chambers the high council of Suna was currently in session and they had finally managed to reach an agreement about what to be done about Suna/Konoha relations. One member of the council turned to the guards at the council doors and said, "Go and get Temari of the Sand." One of the guards promptly gave a polite bow to the council and then left to go get fulfill the request. In less then ten minutes that guard who had left returned with Temari following promptly behind. The council, who was acting as the speaker of the council for the moment, then said, "You two guards go and keep watch on the other side of the doors. The council's business with Lady Temari is a private matter."

As the guards left the room leaving her alone with the high council Temari started to grow nervous. "Lady Temari" began the speaker of the council, "It has come to this council's attention that you and your brother Lord Kankuro both disobeyed your orders in regard to the failed assault on Konoha." Temari opened her mouth ready to defend her actions when the speaker of the council raised his hand to silence her. "You have no need to defend your actions here Lady Temari as you are not on trial. We have already reviewed your and your brother's actions and have found that they were obviously made in the best intentions of Suna. Your participation in the assault would not have made any difference to the inevitable outcome that occurred. Luckily for Suna, both you and your brothers did not participate in the assault."

This comment of the councilman confused Temari; why was it a good thing that she and her brothers didn't fight? As if to answer Temari's question, the speaker of the council continued his speech. "Even though you and your brothers are only genin Lady Temari, you three are already a valuable asset to Suna. Given the current state of affairs in Suna, the need for talent and skill like you and your brothers have is needed more then ever. Until such time a worth candidate for the Gondaime Kazekage can be found, Suna's executive role is to be fulfilled by a regency of three council members. This council, in its wisdom and in agreement with the regency, has decided that you Lady Temari are to serve as Suna's ambassador to Konoha."

Temari's surprise and shock at the council's decision was quite visible on her face. The speaker preempted any chance of Temari asking a question by his continued monologue. "Although you are rather young for such a post, your common sense and level head during the assault proves to this council that you have the ability needed for such a post. As to the question of your rank, it was decided that you have shown the abilities needed to earn the rank of Chunin." The speaker's voice then grew heavy as he continued on, "Lady Temari, you must not fail to make sure that the peace between Konoha and Suna stays intact. Between the actions of the late Yondaime Kazekage and the assault Suna has never been in a direr situation in its history. Suna's treasury is empty, our Jonin force has been reduced to a fifth of what it was and our Chunin force is barely a fourth of what it used to be. Do you understand the situation Lady Temari?"

Oh Temari could understand the situation alright and she could feel the weight that her mission had. Thanks to the actions of 'dear old dad' Suna was practically half-dead and would only survive if none of the other big five decided to wipe Suna out for good. Bowing her head low Temari said in a humble voice, "I, Lady Temari, accept this mission."

Author's notes: if someone wants to use the living corpse bloodline in one of their stories then their welcome to it.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Don't you dare try and say that I own Naruto or Sailor Moon because otherwise I shall pay Akatsuki to send Itachi after you to make you watch Barney with the Tsukiyomi!

Naruto and Kiba were currently standing in front on Sarutobi who was in his official Hokage robes. Both boys had received Sarutobi's personal summons the morning after Naruto and the rest of his party returned to Konoha. Sarutobi, who had just finished signing a requisition form, looked up from his desk at the duo and smiled at the boys. In his usual grandfatherly voice Sarutobi said, "Now that Konoha has had a chance to collect itself and assess the political situation that came about do to the invasion in the Chunin exams, certain other matters have been moved up in priority. I have called you two here today because; of the various Konoha genin that competed in the Chunin Exams, you two show that you are ready move up the ranks."

Pausing for a moment so that Naruto and Kiba could process what he was saying, Sarutobi then continued with a big grin on his face. "Naruto, in both your matches you showed foresight, planning, ability, and restraint. All of these qualities are needed in a commander so that the job is done and that, one way or another, all of the troops come home. Also, during the invasion you proved yourself to be a capable commander in the field. Due to your swift planning Naruto dozens of lives were saved that are vital to Konoha's manpower as a major power." Naruto lowered his eyes a little bit as he honestly didn't think that his actions deserved as much praise as Sarutobi was giving him.

In the back of his mind Sarutobi was chuckling at Naruto's reaction to his well deserved praise. Sarutobi then focused his eyes on Kiba and said, "I must be honest with you Kiba; the issue of your promotion was not nearly as clear cut as it was for your teammate. While many of the judges were impressed with your ability to use the S class Ninja Art: Stoneburner Jutsu, there were an almost equal amount who were quite disappointed in your actions. The people who wanted to fail you stated as their reason the fact that you were extremely worn out after doing the jutsu; leaving you extremely vulnerable if another opponent were to be hypothetically hiding underground. However, as you promotion proves, it was decided that you showed enough planning and ability to met the requirements to become a Chunin."

Pausing for a moment Sarutobi looked down at his desk and picked up two official papers that were there. Sarutobi then handed one of the papers in his hand to both Naruto and Kiba. As the duo accepted the papers Sarutobi said, "Now when you two leave here be sure to give those papers to the records desk. Those papers are your official promotion documents and they need to be filed in the archives. You may go now and have a pleasant day." With that said Naruto and Kiba nodded their heads and left Sarutobi's office.

* * *

Ami slowly tried to open her eyes and wondered where she was as the last thing she could remember was being in the Hokage tower giving status reports. All Ami could make out was several blurry images that were moving around her. Part of Ami really wished that she could go back to sleep because her head was killing her. One of the blurry images moved closer to Ami and said, "Careful now Ami you just woke up. You might be feeling a little disoriented, confused, and/or a headache but that's alright. According to Tsunade those should all be disappearing very quickly. 

Almost instantly Ami was assaulted by the sudden image of a blonde brown eyed girl punching training dummies that had red tear lines painted on them. Just as quickly as the image had appeared into Ami's head the image left her. The logical part of Ami's brain decided that it needed to find a firm grounding point so she could assess the situation. Recognizing the voice of the person who was speaking to her Ami said in an inquisitive tone, "Ino, what's going on? Last thing that I remember is working in the Hokage tower during the invasion." Ami's voice then became urgent as she registered in her mind what she had said earlier. "What happened during the invasion is Naruto alright?!"

Ino helped to steady Ami as the blue haired girl propped herself up on the bed in a sitting position. Once Ami was propped up on her bed in a half sitting position Ino started to talk. "Don't worry Ami; the invasion was stopped with minimal casualties. Naruto is in perfect health and is currently attending a meeting with the Hokage." Noticing the visible look of relief on Ami's face, Ino smirked. Like a cat after a mouse Ino focused in on Ami and said, "Now, now Ami, why didn't you ask about Naruto first? After all, he is the one person you're concerned about. In fact I'm sure that you're wishing it that it was Naruto who was here right now waking you up instead of me."

Ami's cheeks took on an adorable rosy hue as she listened Ino's good natured badgering. While Ami would definitely deny any such allegations as Ino was making, there was a small part of Ami that wished that Naruto was in fact there instead of Ino. Pushing such rebellious thoughts aside Ami focused in on what Ino had said about the invasion. For the next ten minutes Ami and Ino went back and forth talking about what had happened during the invasion; in particular what had happened to Ami and Makoto. During the middle of Ami and Ino's conversation Makoto walked into the room. Makoto was wearing green sweatpants, a loose white t-shirt, and had her hair wrapped up in a towel. Ino and Ami very quickly included Makoto into their conversation about what had happened since Ami and Makoto went into their comas.

* * *

Naruto walked down the street from the Hokage tower towards the Tsukino Clan home. After filing the paperwork with the records office Naruto and Kiba had parted ways so that they both could go home. As he was walking home Naruto slowed down his pace a bit so he could think. Luna was currently in a council committee meeting today discussing some renovation proposals before they were brought to the Hokage. For just a second Naruto thought about how it must seem to visitors to Konoha to have a talking cat sitting on the council. Of course, if people thought that Luna talking in cat form in a council meeting; what would they think of the fact that it hadn't fazed any of the other council members in the least? 

Focusing on other aspects of the clan Naruto went over what Setsuna was currently doing. While Luna was Naruto's political advisor, Setsuna had become the clan's financial manager. Setsuna, much to the surprise of the Sailor Scouts, was a literal genius when it came to the financial world and she didn't need to use the Time Gates at all to reach that level of ability. Naruto had asked Setsuna where she had developed her financial wizardry Setsuna had simply replied that it was a hobby to keep her from getting bored. As Setsuna had taught J. P. Morgan everything he knew about business it was a sure bet that things were looking up for Tsukino Clan finances. Having Setsuna handle the clan finances also had the benefit of giving Setsuna something productive to do as the Time Gates were only able to view events of Earth's dimension.

Naruto stopped musing on these thoughts as he reached the gates on the Tsukino Clan house. Quietly Naruto let himself into the house and he headed over to one specific room. According to Tsunade's predictions, Ami and Makoto should have woken up while Naruto was at the Hokage Tower. Even though he was extremely nervous about bringing the subject up, Naruto knew that this was something that needed to be resolved. The relationships between Ami, Makoto, Ino, and Naruto needed to be properly clarified in Naruto's opinion. True, conventional wisdom dictated that Naruto was basically planning on throwing a lit match into a powder keg but Naruto knew it had to be done. If Naruto just tried to ignore the problem he knew that the situation would just keep on building until it exploded in his face. Hopefully, Naruto mused, he would be able to prevent things from getting too out of hand with the girls.

Gently knocking on the door of the room Naruto waited until he was invited in by Ino. A sudden chill went down Naruto's back as he was reminded that all three girls were currently in the room but Naruto collected his courage and went into the room. Naruto walked over to one side of the room, sat down in a chair, and then looked at the three girls in front of him. After taking a deep breath Naruto said, "I want to talk to all three of you girls. You see for some time now all I have found myself growing extremely attached to each of you. The thought of any of you girls being in emotional or physical pain wounds me deeply and is something that I desire to prevent at all costs. What I am trying to say is that I love all three of you and I would like to know if you three would be willing to all go into a romantic relationship with me."

Naruto then closed his eyes unable to look at the girls as he continued to talk. "I know I know; this isn't exactly the kind of relationship that girls dream about having. You girls can rest assure that my feelings for each of you is unique and true. This isn't some sort of hormonal egotistical desire of mine talking because, although you are all very beautiful women, it is your souls that have attracted me to you. Should you girls decide that you want to pursue a relationship with me, I want you to know that I will do my best to give you each as much time as I can. If any or all of you girls decide that this kind of relationship is something that you don't want to enter into that's alright. No matter what you each decide to do about our relationship, I will support you to the best of my abilities."

The room was silent for a moment as the girls thought about what they had just been told. Ino, although she knew intellectually that she was the catalyst for Naruto's declaration, was shocked still at the speech. Makoto was surprised as well that Naruto was able to make such a speech but she had been hoping that Naruto would eventually make such a speech. Finally Ami was completely thrown through the loop and a part of her was seriously wondering whether she was still asleep. It wasn't that Ami wanting Naruto's speech to be a dream; it was just that she never expected that she would catch Naruto's eye.

Makoto was the first of the trio to make up her mind about Naruto's speech. Getting up off of the bed she was sitting on, Makoto walked over to where Naruto was sitting and gently touched Naruto's chin with her hand. Ever so gently Makoto lifted Naruto's head up and then softly pressed her lips to Naruto's. For a moment time seemed to stop as far as Naruto was concerned when he and Makoto kissed. The kiss ended, much to Naruto's displeasure, only seconds after Makoto had initiated it. Makoto then moved her lips to Naruto's ear and she softly said, "I'm yours Naruto. Sharing your affections doesn't bother me as long as I have a place in your heart and by your side." With her position on the matter crystal clear, Makoto walked out of the room to go train.

After Makoto left the room Ino started to walk towards Naruto and she stopped about two feet away from him. Naruto looked at Ino and saw that she was currently smiling at him in her usual confident and slightly boisterous manner. Ino then leaned in closer to Naruto and said, "It's quite surprising that you would be able to work up the courage to actually suggest such a thing Naruto. Normally, I would knock the block off of anyone who would even suggest such a thing. Luckily for you Naruto, you're not just anyone and I have known that something like this would have eventually had to come up. However Naruto I'm warning you now: any attempts at a two-for-one encounter or any attempts at excess 'protection' during our missions and I will knock your block off!" To emphasis her last point Ino pumped her right fist into the air. Ino then brought her fist down and gently patted Naruto's cheek with her other hand.

Once Ino had returned her hand to her side Ino then walked out of the room like Makoto had done before her. It wasn't that Ino had something important to take care of like Makoto who needed to start preparing dinner. Rather Ino figured that Ami would need to be alone with Naruto in order to air her feelings on the issue. With Ino gone the room became very quite as Ami was still in shock and surprise at what she had heard and then seen. As the seconds passed and became minutes filled with silence Naruto began to worry about the situation. Finally Naruto had enough of the silence and he calmly walked over to the bed that Ami was sitting on and sat down next to Ami. In a soft and concerned voice Naruto said, "Will you please tell me how you feel about my proposal Ami? Even if it's just a request for more time to think about it I don't mind."

Ami then turned her head to stare into Naruto's eyes with her own. In a very quiet and timid voice Ami hesitantly asked, "Why, why me? You have Makoto and Ino who love you so why would you even bother falling in love with me?" This was just something that Ami for all her intellect just couldn't comprehend. Back on Earth, she was always the least desirable of the scouts whether it was civilian life or as Sailor Mercury. Now that Ami was here in Konoha, her view of herself as a girl that a young man would want to date had taken a steep nosedive when she was confronted with the abilities and beauty of several of the girls that lived in the village. These insecurities that Ami had in regards to her desirability as a woman made it almost impossible for Ami to believe that Naruto actually loved her even though subtle signs of Naruto's affection had been appearing since the Chunin exams.

Naruto, deciding to follow the old saying the fortune favors the bold, leaned in and planted a firm kiss on Ami's lips. For a second Ami didn't respond to Naruto's kiss due to complete shock; but the shock was not to last. Ever so slowly Ami responded to Naruto's kiss as she came to accept that, despite how illogical it seemed to her, Naruto did indeed love her. With his feelings for Ami obviously reciprocated, Naruto gently placed his hand behind Ami's head. Naruto then slowly lowered Ami into a laying position on the bed with himself on top of her. Their lips were still joined together is a soft but sensuous kiss as Naruto, even through the slight emotional haze of the moment, had made sure to keep his and Ami's lips locked. For the next hour Naruto and Ami stayed on that bed sharing their slow and sensuous kiss; never moving beyond the level of contact that they had started.

* * *

Tsunade was currently in her new office in the hospital organizing all of her files. It had been a little over a week since Tsunade had come back to Konoha and taken her rightful place as the head of the Senju Clan. Personally Tsunade thought that the hype that some of the council members had tried to make of her return was completely ridiculous. After all, Tsunade mused, the Senju Clan was for all intents a dead clan and it wasn't like most civilians or shinobi really cared about medic ninjas unless they were hurt. 

Shaking her head, Tsunade drove such morbid thoughts out of her head and focused back on the task on hand. Even though Tsunade had originally intended to leave Konoha once she had fulfilled her debt to Naruto, she hadn't. For some reason that escaped her Tsunade just could not bring herself to leave Konoha. It seemed to Tsunade that the ghosts of her past that had haunted her and had driven her from Konoha all those years ago had finally been put to rest. Why those ghosts had decided to vanish after so many years Tsunade didn't know but she had a hunch that Naruto was part of the reason. There was something about that boy that allowed him to change people's lives and Tsunade was thankful that Naruto had changed her life in regard to her past.

Since Tsunade had decided to stay in Konoha she made the decision to make sure that she spent her time productively. Getting drunk and gambling was a whole lot of fun but Tsunade couldn't enjoy just doing those two things for the rest of her life. Over all there were really only two jobs that Tsunade could see herself doing: being a Jonin sensei or working in Konoha's hospital. Sarutobi had offered Tsunade the position of Hokage but Tsunade had said no and she threatened to turn Sarutobi into a kage pancake if he ever brought the topic up again. Jonin sensei was a possibility for Tsunade because she and Jiraiya were legally Jonin even though they were both referred to as 'the Sannin'. However Tsunade preferred to take on apprentices that she personally picked, not a bunch of genin hopefuls that would mostly likely only want to learn 'cool jutsus' or how to look pretty.

Not wanting to have to deal with a bunch of brats who wouldn't really try to learn under her, Tsunade requested a job at the Konoha Hospital. With her status as a legendary medical ninja Tsunade's request was speedily accepted by both Sarutobi and the Head Doctor of the hospital. Although Tsunade had simply requested to be a doctor at the hospital she was placed as the new head of the emergency wing of the hospital. Her new position didn't bother Tsunade too much as she had been planning on working on the kinds of cases that her wing handled. The only thing that Tsunade really didn't like about being the head of a hospital wing was the increase of paperwork that she had to take care of because of her position. Still, even with the increase of paperwork, Tsunade was very happy to be working at the hospital.

After two hours of filing all of the papers she had in her office Tsunade was finally able to sit at her desk for a moment and relax. For a second Tsunade thought about pouring a cup of sake to celebrate getting her office organized but she decided against doing so. Tsunade then glanced over at the clock on her office wall and saw that it was only three o'clock in the afternoon. It was too early for Tsunade to leave the hospital even if she was only supposed to get organized today so Tsunade thought about what she could do to be productive. Finally Tsunade decided to hit the intercom button on her desk and said, "Reception desk, this is Tsunade of the shock trauma wing. Would you please page Hotaru Tomoe of the Tsukino Clan? I want to talk to her in my office as soon as it's convenient for her." The receptionist gave Tsunade a polite reply and then the intercom was turned off.

Not wanting to waste any time while she was waiting for Hotaru, Tsunade walked over to her filing cabinets and pulled out Hotaru's file that the hospital kept. Tsunade then went back to her desk, opened the file, and began to read it. Like most of the Tsukino Clan members that had arrived a few months ago Hotaru's history was relatively sparse compare to other bios in the village. Her birthplace was listed as Nippon and there was a little side note stating that Nippon was a country on the other side of the great sea. There were several notes filled in by Hotaru's superiors praising Hotaru willingness to work and her cheerful disposition when tending her patents. Another thing that was interesting was how Hotaru seemed to be like a sponge when it came to studying the various medical facts that Hotaru's superiors had requested that she learn.

Of course, the most interesting and intriguing things in Hotaru's file were the notes that were made about her bloodline limit. Tsunade had a smile come across her face as she read the notes that the last reviewer had written. The Tuskino Clan and their bloodline(s) had become infamous among the upper level hospital staff because of the headache they caused. Not that Tsunade could really blame the other staff members because no one had ever dealt with a bloodline like the Senshi super-bloodline. A super-bloodline was, in the words of the doctor who first coined it, a bloodline that had several distinct variants in abilities but that all variants shared a core set of abilities. While the massive power-up that went with the Senshi bloodline was intriguing, Tsunade was more interested in the Shiseisenshi ( dead planet warrior) variant's ability to naturally produce very potent medical chakra.

Tsunade stopped reading the notes in the file when she heard a soft knock on her door. Looking up from her desk Tsunade calmly called out, "Yes, you can come in now." The door open and Tsunade watched as Hotaru calmly, but in a slightly meek manner, walked into the room. With a lazy wave of her hand Tsunade motioned for Hotaru to sit down in the seat across Tsunade's desk in Tsunade's eyesight. Once Hotaru was seated Tsunade began to talk. "I have been going over your files Hotaru of what you've been doing around the hospital since you and your party arrived from Nippon searching for Usagi Namikaze. All that I have read about you shows you to be a hard working young woman with an amazing amount of potential in the medical arts. Potential that, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to help you develop."

Hotaru sat in the chair for a moment looking at Tsunade with wide eyes. When Hotaru had heard the request that she go to Tsunade's office she hadn't been expecting something like this. Due to her healing abilities Hotaru had been assigned to the emergency wing of the hospital and so she had figured that Tsunade had just wanted to get to meet the people in her wing. Still, even if Hotaru had never expected to have Tsunade offer to train her, there was no way that Hotaru would let this chance slip through her grasp. Giving Tsunade a very bright smile Hotaru said, "Thank you Tsunade I promise I won't let what you teach me go to waste!"

* * *

In a dirty and rundown tavern in a small town that was in the middle of no where three cloak covered individuals met. These black clocked individuals were sitting at a table in the back of the tavern with only a single candle illuminating the shadows that they sat in. One of the cloaked individuals grabbed the mug that was in front of him and took a swallow of the ale that was in it. This figure then glared at his companions and said, "Sai, Kabuto, why did it tack you so long to arrive here? Don't tell me that you two had trouble escaping from those pathetic mortals that you two are working on as I know your skills are far better then that." 

Kabuto, who was sitting on the first speaker's right, raised his hood ever so slightly and then said, "Are you really that impatient Madara? After all 'brother', Sai and I had to de-age ourselves in order to fulfill our part in Lord Astaroth's plan. With those eyes of yours you should be able to plainly see that both Sai and I can't reach our full abilities just yet because of the state of our bodies at the moment. Even the arrogance of the mortal's that we 'serve' would not prevent them from wondering why two boys would age so quickly. Besides _Tobi_, Sai and I don't act like a complete fool in front of our inferiors."

Madara shot Kabuto a scathing gaze with his Mangekyou Sharingan blazing and for a second Kabuto wondered if Madara would actually try to use Tsukuyomi on him. Luckily for the secrecy of the meeting Madara was able to keep his head and Madara just took another swallow of his ale. Madara then wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his cloak and said, "On to business gentlemen. As instructed by our lord's plan I have been gathering various ninja throughout these lands with exceptional abilities. When the time comes Akatsuki will be ready to be useful lieutenants for the army. Over all the tasks that I am overseeing are going along smoothly except for one snag. When Itachi and Kisame went after the Kyuubi they were told that the renegade had perished. Now I believe that this is just a ruse on the mortal Jiraiya's part but I would like your thoughts on the matter."

Sai shook his head and said, "I wouldn't be so quick to assume that Madara. There is a very real, abet small, possibility that the Kyuubi is in fact dead. Usagi Namikaze possessed a bloodline that made her chakra very dangerous to our forces. Her bloodline, combined with her husband's seal, makes it possible that Naruto Tsukino has indeed destroyed the Kyuubi. Even if this is not the case, the boy's bloodline makes him someone to be careful about. Naruto is not a real threat to us or our plans but we should be prepared to expect some more casualties then expected when our forces face off against him."

Kabuto then politely coughed and said, "Talking about what to do about Naruto is pointless right now as he is only a minor nuisance right now. We must focus on our tasks at hand. Madara is to gather the lieutenants for Lord Astaroth's army; Sai is supposed to build up a useful core of ninjas for Lord Astaroth, and I am supposed to prepare several different bases of operation for when the army arrives." Kabuto then lowered his gaze and he said, "In three years the bijuu are to be captured or extracted so that their chakra can be used to open a gateway between this world and Lord Astaroth's dimension. According to my calculations we will only need enough of the rouges to equal seven tails to make the gateway work. However, the more of the rouges that are collected the less shutdown time is needed in between usages of the gateway. Also, with more of the rouges collected we will also be able to keep the gateway open longer allowing for more regiments to be sent through at a time."

Sai then raise his mug in the air and said, "I would like to propose a toast my brothers. In only a few short years our century of work will be completed. After living in the shadows for so long we will finally be able to step into the light and take our rightful place. Soon enough these arrogant mortals shall be put into their proper place as our servants as we take our proper place as the rulers of this world for our Lord Astaroth." Both Madara and Kabuto joined in with Sai's toast before the trio dispersed into the night to return to their projects.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: My gaining ownership of either series has about as much chance of happening as Elder Kai has in getting Bulma to kiss him.

Temari was not in the best of moods as she approached the gates of Konoha. Part of her foul mood was due to the weather. It had been raining constantly for the past few days turning most of the roads she had to walk on into mud. Also, the political situation in Suna was annoying her due to the mixed signals she received in the messages from the High Council. While her mission of insuring peaceful relations between Suna and Konoha never changed, the particulars of exactly how this was to be accomplished were what changed. Some messages told her that she had to insist on reverting back to the old treaty. At other times Temari was told to achieve peace no matter how costly it would be to Suna. Yet other dispatches told her to win the best possible terms, even if she needed to resort to bedroom negotiations. Naturally, Temari took great offense at those last dispatches and was always glad to see those orders being countermanded.

These constant conflicts in her orders spoke volumes to Temari about how bad things in Suna had gotten. Oh, Temari knew that the Council, or at least a good number of the council's members, was trying its best to keep Suna together. However, the Council's best just wasn't cutting it; there was a reason why ninja villages didn't run on committees after all. From Temari's point of view her mission was to assure Suna's peace as best as she could while giving only the most general of promises. That way, or at least Temari hopped, she wouldn't end up giving something away in the negotiations that Suna didn't want to give to Konoha after the government managed to get its head on strait.

Shaking her head, Temari pushed those depressing thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on the task at hand: getting through Konoha's gates. As she neared the alert guards at the gate Temari reached into her breast pocket with her free hand and pulled out her passport. Extending her passport as close to the edge of her umbrella's coverage as she dared to, Temari firmly identified herself, "Temari of the Desert from Suna, Rank: Chunin, reason for visit: new Military Attaché to Konoha." After quickly verifying that her passport was legit, the guards told Temari to wait for her guide to arrive.

Temari's mood rapidly deteriorated during the ten minutes she had to wait for her guide to arrive. A five minute delay Temari could understand but ten minutes seemed more like someone's idea of a power play then a reasonable delay. Just as Temari was about to ask the guard about the reason that held her guide up from meeting with her, Temari saw someone body-flicker next to the guards. Her heart started to beat slightly faster when she identified the new arrival as Naruto.

With a sheepish grin on his face, Naruto bowed politely and said, "Sorry about the delay Temari. You see, the person assigned to be your guide said something that got several of the more assertive members of Konoha's Kunoichi Association angry enough to pound him black and blue. As the first available Chunin at the time I was chosen to be your replacement guide. I am truly sorry for the delay and I sincerely hope that your stay in Konoha will be much more pleasant than the last one."

Temari looked down at her feet, feeling a torrent of different emotions flowing through her. She was angry and annoyed that her original guide did something to anger several members of the Kunoichi Association's Konoha branch. At the same time Temari was pleased to have Naruto as her new guide. However, Temari was also ashamed when Naruto discreetly brought up the failed invasion. Collecting herself, Temari looked up at Naruto and said in a firm voice, "Sorry about the invasion. The loss of life on both sides is regrettable but there is nothing that can change that fact. I'm here right now to make sure that a repeat of that incident, no matter what form, does not happen for the foreseeable future."

Naruto just gave Temari a small but honest smile and said, "I believe you Temari. Neither I nor any of my friends hold you responsible for the attack. The sins of the father after all do not become the sins of the children unless the children follow in their father's footsteps. From what I know about you, I am sure that your intentions here are only for the best. Also, I want you to know that Clan Tsukino, small though it is, will be putting all its political strength into insuring that future Konoha-Suna relations are reasonable, fair, and friendly. If you ever need someone to talk to I and my retainers are always willing to try and help you."

Temari was silent for a few minutes after Naruto told her that she could count on his aid. While she was silent, Naruto had started showing Temari around Konoha and was making sure that she knew where everything was at. For the most part of the tour Temari was operating on autopilot due to the fact that she was trying to understand what Naruto had told her. About halfway through the tour Temari paused for a second and said, "Uh Naruto? What do you mean that you and your retainers are always willing to try and help me?"

Without breaking his stride, Naruto tried to explain what he had ment to Temari. "The rest of my clan and I believe that peace is better than war. This doesn't mean that we will give up anything for peace but rather that we would prefer to settle things using words instead of jutsus. Let me tell you a little known fact Temari. My goal is to make the Tsukino Clan one of the premiere ninja clans on the continent. However, I want the Tsukino Clan to be known as a clan of Defenders and Helpers. Insuring peace between our two nations is one of the ways that my clan can show this stance. Besides, I honestly feel that working together would be feneficial to both Suna and Konoha."

After Naruto finished speaking, the conversation quickly ended between the two teens. This suited Temari just fine because she needed to think about what Naruto had just told her. While the two were silently walking together, Temari would occasionally take a quick glance at Naruto. Even now, Temari mused, Naruto was able to throw her off balance and disrupt her view of reality. However, the thing that really scared Temari about this whole situation was the fact that she honestly liked it when Naruto did these things to her without trying.

Ami stood in one of the hallways in the Tsukino compound in front of a large ornate mirror. This mirror was special due to the fact that it was a Silver Millennium/Fuinjutsu hybrid item. It had taken Ami, Setsuna, and Jiraiya over a month to design and build this mirror and its 9 companion mirrors. In fact, this mirror and its companions had only been used so far to make sure that they could connect. Part of Ami wanted to run a few more preliminary trial runs with the mirrors before she started this task. However, Ami knew that she was just stalling and needed to do this now before she got into the habit of putting this off.

Taking a second beforehand to clear her throat, Ami said in a firm tone, "Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, I would like to make a call. Connect to Mizuno Mirror." The mirror's surface suddenly became opaque and rippled like a pond that had a rock thrown in. When the mirror's surface calmed down Ami was not looking at her reflection but at her mother's living room. Ami felt her heart race as she saw her mother walk into the viewing area of the mirror carrying a bag of groceries. With only the slightest of hesitations Ami called out, "Mother." Mrs. Mizuno turned her head, let her grocery bag fall to the floor, and quickly marched over to the mirror.

There was a tear rolling down Mrs. Mizuno's cheek as the older woman timidly inched her hand closer to the mirror. "Oh Ami," Mrs. Mizuno began to say through the tears, "You don't know how happy I am to see you again." Using her index finger to wipe some of the tears, Ami's mother continued on talking. "Don't take this the wrong way Ami but when Mrs. Tsukino returned saying that you had chosen to stay behind I honestly thought that I'd never be able to see you again. Even when your teammate Setsuna brought over this mirror and told me that it would let us talk to each other I was still afraid that you wouldn't want to talk to me. After all, I haven't really been much of a mother for you these past few years, have I?"

Hearing her mother talk like that wrenched at Ami's heart and made her wish that she could give her mother a hug. Putting a small smile on her face Ami said in a soft voice, "Don't say things like that mother. You're a great mother and I always loved the times that we spent together. True, our mother/daughter bonding moments were fewer than I would like; however, I have never been upset with you because of that and I never will be. Unlike other single mothers I've heard about, you were working late so that you could help all of those patients at the hospital. Mother, whether you've realized it or not, you have been a source of inspiration to me with your adherence to your duty as a doctor."

A smile appeared on Mrs. Mizuno's face as she replied in a more jovial tone, "My adherence to the Hippocratic Oath you say? Well I can definitely see how that has inspired you Ami, but I must say that you've taken duty to a whole new level. You have to admit after all that going to an alternate dimension with no real backup or ability to return so that you can rescue a friend, even if Usagi was your 'princess', is a tall order. That you would be willing to stay behind so that you could help Usagi's son; well that just shows how strong a sense of duty you have."

Ami cut in at this point and said, "Thank you for saying that Mother; it truly means the world to me. However, I didn't deicide to stick around her just because of a sense of duty even though that was one of my reasons. You see Mother, I--I've fallen in love with Naruto and the two of us have been going out for the past month." Seeing that her mother was about to jump in and congratulate her Ami said quickly, "Mother, there is more to the situation however. You see, due to the cultural/legal conditions in the Elemental Countries Naruto cannot have a monogamous relationship."

Mrs. Mizuno's eyes widened in shock for a moment and then her eyes narrowed in anger. Wanting to prevent her mother from saying something that she couldn't take back, Ami quickly continued talking. "Just wait a minute Mother so I can fully explain the situation to you more fully. Naruto is expected to have several wives to insure that his clan and bloodline do not become extinct. However, Naruto isn't using this as a license to get girlfriends. Instead, Naruto only focused on a few girls including me that he warmed up to over a period of time. When Naruto decided to ask us if we would agree to this unusual relationship he asked all of us upfront and at the same time."

Pausing for a moment to catch her breath, Ami gave her mother a sincere look and said, "I love him Mother, I truly do. You may not believe it, but Naruto makes me happy. He has been open and truthful in all things about his relationship with me, Makoto, and Ino. There have just been so many things, both great and small, that Naruto has done for me and the other girls. For example Naruto always arranges it so all three of us get time alone with him for dates or just to talk about the things in our lives. Also, when Naruto talks with me he pays attention to what I have to say."

Mrs. Mizuno's gaze softened as she watched and listened to Ami talk about her relationship with Naruto. Personally Mrs. Mizuno found the whole situation that Ami was in to be extremely distasteful. However, she was able to understand that a culture like Naruto's would have a different outlook on things. In fact, Mrs. Mizuno could even, from an academic point of view, understand the reasoning behind Naruto's situation. It was just that knowing the reasons behind the situation didn't really help Mrs. Mizuno deal with the situation when it was HER daughter who was in the middle of it all.

Taking a deep breath Mrs. Mizuno looked at Ami and said, "I want you to know up front Ami that I don't like this situation. Academically I can understand it, but as a mother and a woman I can't approve of it. However, even with my dislike of the situation, I am happy that you have found someone who you love and who loves you in return. Just promise me Ami that you will take this relationship of yours at your own pace; don't do something that you're uncomfortable with just because Makoto or Ino do it."

Placing her hand on the mirror where Mrs. Mizuno's cheek was, Ami softly replied, "Thank you Mother. I love you and I promise you that I will do things at my own pace, goodbye." With that said Ami ended her call and the mirror showed her reflection once again.

Naruto was currently sitting in a rowboat on a small lake just outside of Konoha with both oars in his hands. Makoto was sitting in front of Naruto wearing a sundress as she took in the view of the lakeside. Between the two teens was a picnic basket which had the remains of the couple's lunch set up for snacks. Sending Makoto a slightly sheepish grin Naruto said, "I hope you're not too disappointed with this afternoon Makoto. I know I promised last week after I took that courier mission to Suna that I would be back in time to take you to see that kabuki play."

Makoto just put her hand on Naruto's knee and said, "It's alright Naruto. After all, how could you have possibly known that the head of that troupe would have gotten an invitation while you were away to go and perform for the Fire Lord? Besides, this idea of yours to have a picnic and a boat ride just out of town is wonderful."

Naruto chuckled for a second and said, "I really can't take credit for this idea. When I got back from the mission and found out that the troupe had left, I actually panicked. Thankfully, Ino was around to help me get my head back on straight. Actually, it was Ino who camp up with this idea to help me make it up to you for missing the play."

Quickly leaning forward and giving Naruto a peck on the lips, Makoto then slowly pulled back and said, "It's the thought that counts Naruto. You wanted to make it up to me for missing the play even though the circumstances were completely out of your control and that's what makes this afternoon special to me. The fact that you got help planning this out doesn't make this afternoon any less special to me."

Slowing the boat down until it was drifting; Naruto let his hands off the oars and gently clasped Makoto's hands. With a contemplative smile on his face Naruto said softly, "I'm glad that you have enjoyed this afternoon Makoto. As I've said before, I love you Makoto and I'm ecstatic that you agreed to date me. At times these past two months have seemed like a dream to me. Aunt Luna told me about some of the things that went on in Tokyo and the Silver Millennium and especially about the standard social norms and dating customs. When I think about what Luna told me it makes me wonder at times how you and Ami could agree to this kind of a relationship."

Makoto crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back onto the prow with her eyes closed. Keeping her eyes closed Makoto lazily said, "I can't speak for Ami but this kind of a situation doesn't bother me. Now I will admit that there is a part of me that wants to have you all to myself. However, I would rather share you then not have you at all. After all, I at least know who you're going out with besides me and I know that you aren't just using any of us like some of the creeps back in Tokyo might have."

Getting up and slowly moving to share the same bench, Naruto said calmly, "Thanks for being honest with me Makoto." Naruto then leaned back and let his head rest on Makoto's chest. Slowly wrapping his arms around her Naruto said, "Each of you girls is like a priceless gem to me and I treasure the fact that you're all mine. I everything in my power to make sure that each and everyone of you gets the love and attention from me that you deserve. It's just that, at times, I'm afraid that one day one or all of you will think that I don't really love you."

Naruto then felt Makoto grab his hand and place it firmly on her belly. "Do you feel that Naruto?" Makoto began while still keeping her eyes closed, "That's my womb under your hand that you're feeling right now. One day in the future that firm and flat womb of mine will expand as a child grows in it. I can say with certainty right now that my future child or children will have you and only you Naruto as their father. My mind and heart have made their decision and that decision is to stay with you Naruto. Don't think that all of this is only the proclamation of a silly lovesick girl Naruto. You see, ever since I woke up from that coma I have been remembering various things from my previous life as well as assimilating the combat knowledge of the Shodai. I still haven't recovered most of my memories of my past life, but those few that I have recovered let me make this decision like a mature and confident woman."

Ino was sitting at the counter in the Yamanaka family kitchen munching on breakfast when she heard her parents walk into the room. Turning around to greet the, Ino was surprised to see that her parents were looking rather nervous. Hopping off her stool Ino said in a slightly worried voice, "Mom, Dad, what's got you so worried?"

Inoichi nervously began to talk to Ino saying, "Ino dear, do you remember several years ago when you asked if you could have a little brother or sister?" Nodding her head, Ino silently acknowledged her father's question and wondered where the conversation was going. That incident was crystal clear in Ino's mind even though she was only seven years old at the time and had been going to bed. After an uncomfortable second of silence Inoichi continued his speech, "There was a reason for why I was so short with you at the time Ino. Your mother and I never mentioned it to you, but you were a very complicated birth."

At this point Inoichi choked up and Mrs. Yamanaka had to continue the conversation, "When I went into labor it was discovered that you had somehow wrapped the umbilical cord around your neck. Afraid that you could kill yourself, the doctors preformed an emergency C-section. As your standing here shows, the delivery was a success. However, a few weeks later the doctors discovered that two of the tenketsus next to my womb had accidentally been severely damaged during the operation. Those tenketsus were the primary points where a mother's chakra is 'power-downed' so that a fetus can have a supply of chakra."

Ino's face paled and she unconsciously took a step backwards due to temporally losing her balance. Grabbing onto the shelf ledge behind her, Ino managed to keep herself from falling on the floor. "Mom," Ino managed to say in a weak voice, "Why didn't you or Dad ever tell me? For that matter why are you choosing to tell me now?" Part of Ino felt ashamed that it was due to her birth that her mother had been rendered barren. Her mother actually came from a civilian merchant clan that was known for the big families and it was no secret to Ino that her mother was always sad when Ino's numerous cousins came over for a family reunion.

Inoichi started talking again by saying, "We never mentioned it to you because we didn't want you to become upset and blame yourself for what happened. In fact, we weren't ever planning on telling you about this fact. But we decided it would be better if we told you up front rather than for you to accidentally stumble across this fact."

Ino was completely confused as to what her father was saying. How could she have stumbled across this fact? After all, it wasn't like she would ever have a reason to be hunting for information in the hospital archives. Even more important to Ino was why her parents had chosen NOW of all times to reveal this information.

As if sensing Ino's confusion, Mrs. Yamanaka gave a motherly smile and said, "There's a very good reason why we chose today to tell you Ino. About a week after you started dating Naruto I went and talked to Lady Tsunade. Although the doctors at the hospital had claimed that my condition was uncorrectable, Lady Tsunade along with her apprentice Hotaru was able to repair the damaged tenketsus." Mrs. Yamanaka then gently grabbed Inoichi's right hand making sure that Ino had seen the move. The elder Yamanaka woman then practically glowed as she said, "Ino I just got confirmation today, and I'm pregnant."

For a minute the Yamanaka household was so quiet that a person could hear a pin drop. That silence was soundly broken when Ino gave a happy squeal and promptly grabbed her mother in a hug. In an ecstatic voice Ino said, "This is wonderful news Mom! I get to be a big sister." Inoichi looked at the scene of his wife and daughter hugging and couldn't help but smile in pride at seeing his family's happiness.

Hotaru and Tsunade were sitting in Tsunade's office during their break period. While they might have technically been on 'break' there really wasn't any relaxation going on as Tsunade had made Hotaru keep a fish alive out of water for training. Tsunade herself was sitting at her desk watching as Hotaru calmly kept the fish alive. Although there was a bored expression on Tsunade's face, Tsunade was actually very interested in what her apprentice was doing. Hotaru's rapid progress always intrigued Tsunade and Hotaru's pleasant disposition made teaching the girl a pleasure.

Taking a quick glance at the clock, Tsunade said in her usual manner, "Alright Hotaru it's been twenty minutes. Put that fish back in the aquarium and sit back down after you've dried your hands." Hotaru glanced up at Tsuande, nodded her head, and proceeded to follow Tsunade's directions. At the same time, Tsunade garbbed a document from her in box and started to work on it.

While still filling out the document, Tsunade started to talk when Hotaru had returned to her seat. "Good job Hotaru on keeping the fish alive. Your ability to keep your chakra levels consistent in regards to both power and duration has shown substantial improvements. If you haven't noticed by now, you have become far more efficient in the use of your bloodline's power."

Hotaru nodded her head and said, "Yes master Tsunade I have noticed my improvements. I can use my powers for almost twice as long now that I'm not wasting as much chakra as I used to when I heal people." Tsunade could hear Hotaru's happiness and pride at this fact in Hotaru's voice.

Flipping the document over to the next page Tsuande continued her questioning. "I gather that you've been reading those textbooks that I gave you last week? You should have read chapter 7 in Hoshi's _Guide to the Human Systems for Dummies _and have at least covered the third chapter in Naga's _Plants and Poisons: A complete guide_. After all, the ability to create and use medicinal chakra doesn't do a doctor much good if they don't know what they need to treat."

Replying in a happy but respectful tone Hotaru said, "I finished reading those two chapters yesterday, master Tsunade. While I was able to easily understand Hoshi's textbook, I have had a lot of difficulty remembering all the facts in Naga's book. There is just something in either the information itself or how the information is presented that makes it so hard for me to remember all my facts."

Hotaru's disappointment with herself was very obvious to Tsunade. "Don't worry about it Hotaru," Tsunade said while still working on the document. "Most doctors that I know of can't even make it past the first chapter of Naga's book. I assigned you that book because it is a complete guide to every different type of plant that has a medical usage and practically every plant derived poison. You don't have to memorize all the facts that are covered in the book; just make sure you can recognize the various plants and poisons. That way you will know how to treat a patient or at least get them stable so you can look up the necessary information."

Tsunade then flipped the pages of the document she was working on back to the first page and handed it to Hotaru. Placing her pen down on the desk, Tsunade said, "Here you go Hotaru. That's the transcript covering what I've gone over with you this past week. Make sure that you get it over to the records department before you check out today. If you keep advancing at this pace you will be fully qualified to start treating patients on your own in six months. Have a good day and I will see you at our usual time for lessons on Monday."

Hotaru cheerfully accepted the transcript and left the room. After Hotaru had closed the door, Tsuande got out of her seat and slowly walked to her office's window. Gazing out at the freshly repaired buildings Tsunade let out a small sigh. "Grandfather, Brother, and Dan, are you proud of me? I've been such a fool for so much of my life that I times I wonder whether I have any right to have known you three so well. At least now I'm finally able to own up to my cowardliness and my foolishness."

Tsunade paused for a moment of silence before she continued to speak. "I was talking with Sarutobi just the other day at his office. Boy was that conversation interesting for me. It seems that Sarutobi has let Makoto sign the Monkey Contract. It makes sense in a way when you think about it. Makoto can after call use the wood jutsus that made Grandfather so famous and the monkeys work well in forests. The other day I gave Ami the Tiger Contract from the Senju Clan vault. I can't use it since I have grandma's Slug Contract and it just seemed appropriate to give it to Ami instead of letting it collect dust on a shelf."

Shaking her head Tsunade said in a tone laced with annoyance, "Enough of this pity party. It never did me any good and starting on it again now would waste all the effort that my friends put into getting me out of my last depression. So I've gotten a crummy deal at times with my life, but then who hasn't? At least I still have friends and I have a new apprentice that shows more promise in the healing arts than I ever did."

Tsunade turned to leave her office and was about to make it out the door when something caught her eye. Closing the door and walking over to one of her shelves, Tsunade narrowed in on an old bonsai tree that was on her shelf. The bonsai tree had been a gift that Dan had given her so many years ago during one of their dates. Sadly for the tree, Tsuande hadn't taken care of it properly on one of her more serious depressions and it had died. Although she had been meaning to throw it away for years something had always stopped Tsunade from putting it in the trash.

As she approached the bonsai tree Tsunade noticed that there were several green buds on the tree. Picking up the pot that the bonsai tree was in, Tsuande thoroughly checked to see if the tree was a replacement. After making sure beyond a doubt that the bonsai in her hand was the one that Dan had given her, Tsunade wondered out loud, "How?" Tsunade got an even bigger shock as she watched the buds on the tree start to grow at an accelerated rate while the pot was in her hands. Barely able to prevent herself from dropping the bonsai tree, Tsunade quickly place the tree back on the shelf. Whispering like she had seen a ghost, Tsunade asked, "What's going on here?"


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Even after getting pounded by Tsunade, Jiraiya would know that I don't own Naruto or Sailor Moon

Setsuna was walking home after making a business deal with a merchant from Wave Country when she decided to make a detour. Ducking down a non-descript alley, Setsuna left the busy main roads of Konoha and started to head in a round about way towards the Hokage monument. After about ten minutes of walking through side roads Setsuna came to a small dirt path. She then followed the path until she came to a small cave in the Hokage monument mountain.

There were several candles in a small box that had been built into a crevice in the cave entrance. Setsuna took one of the candles out of the box, carefully lit the candle, and then entered the cave. Inside the cave the rock floor had been chiseled smooth so that people could safely walk in the cave. Although this was the first time that Setsuna had been in the cave, she had read enough about the cave to easily navigate her way to where she wanted to go. Soon enough, although it seemed like an eternity to Setsuna, her destination came into view.

All that was in front of Setsuna was a smooth square of carved rock jutting up from the ground with a lit incense offering and two obvious white marble squares embedded in the wall in front of Setsuna. On the right marble square was written 'Minato Namikaze' and on the left square was written 'Usagi Namikaze'. Setsuna was barely able to place her candle next to the incense offering when her knees gave out and she plopped onto the stone floor. With tears freely flowing down her cheeks Setsuna sobbingly said, "I'm so sorry princess. All I ever seem do is fail you when you need me. You and your mother deserved a far better servant then me; your son deserves a better servant. After all of my failures I don't deserve the honor of being your vassal."

"Now, now, I wouldn't say that so quickly." Setsuna whipped her head around to try and find the person who was talking to her. She then watched as Kakashi steeped out of the shadows with his arms folded across his chest. Kakashi then somberly said, "Trust me beating yourself up over failure doesn't do a person any good. I know because I've been there before."

On seeing the questioning look in Setsuna's ruby eyes, Kakashi sighed and elaborated. "When I was first promoted to Jonin, I was given command of my two teammates Rin and Obito. On our very first mission out things went wrong and Obito lost his life after saving mine. About a month before Sensei and Lady Usagi were to be married I lost Rin in a mission that I was commanding. Those two missions almost destroyed me as I spend my days after those missions going over everything that had happened. Both times I was sure that I had done something wrong or missed a sign causing my teammates to pay the price."

Kakashi then paused for a moment to add a fresh incense stick to the offering and then continued on. "If it wasn't for Lady Usagi and her compassionate heart I would probably have committed suicide like my father did. However Lady Usagi was able to make me see the folly of how I was looking at the situation. No matter how much or how thoroughly a person plans for a situation things can go wrong. It doesn't matter if it is a minor thing or a major thing that goes wrong because in both cases the people in charge are not to blame."

Setsuna sat where she was looking at Kakashi as if she was trying to deny the truth of his words. Despite the relief that his words carried, Setsuna couldn't bring herself to accept them just yet. She had been living with the belief that she, through some mistake, had allowed the Silver Millennium to collapse for so long that Setsuna was actually afraid to try and escape the blame.

Kakashi watched Setsuna as the debate warred within her and tried to think of what he could say to help Setsuna. Now normally Kakashi wouldn't put this much effort in helping an almost complete stranger, however Kakashi felt that he owed it to Lady Usagi to help Setsuna out. In a confident manner that was completely opposite of how he felt, Kakashi offered Setsuna his hand. "Come now Setsuna," Kakashi said in his serious voice, "let's get you out of here. Lady Usagi wouldn't want you to be this broken up because of her and you obviously need time to think. Time, as I know from experience that can only happen away from here. In a few days if you wish, I'll accompany you back here."

In a tentative manner Setsuna slowly reached out to hold Kakashi's offered hand. As soon as she had grabbed his hand Kakashi strengthened his grip and help Setsuna off of the floor. He then slowly led Setsuna out of the cave leaving her candle back on the stone next to his incense offering.

* * *

Team Maelstrom, minus Anko who had been temporarily assigned to a Jonin team for a mission, walked into the Hokage Tower with confident smiles on their faces. As the team neared the mission desk Naruto steeped forward and said, "Chunin Naruto Tsukino, temporary leader of Team Maelstrom reporting in for the team. It is my pleasure to report that the mission was a complete success."

Ebisu, who currently manning the mission desk, nodded his head and gave Naruto a faint smile. "Very good Team Maelstrom," Ebisu said as he filled out a document on his desk. "With that grain convoy you guarded safely in Konoha, our emergency rations can now last 5 months instead of 3. Here," Ebisu then handed Naruto the document he had been working on and said, "take this down to the requisition office. After they file that document the pay for this mission will be in your account tomorrow."

Naruto calmly accepted the document and led Ino and Kiba over to the requisition office as instructed. Once the trio got to the crowded office it took about fifteen minutes for Naruto to be able to see one of the clerks. It only took Naruto a minute to give the clerk the document and get the receipts for the team's paycheck. With receipts in hand, Naruto made his way back to Ino and Kiba. Then very quietly Naruto handed his teammates their receipts while at the same time pocking his own.

After getting out of the Hokage Tower and saying goodbye to Kiba, Naruto turned towards Ino and gently grabbed her hand. While giving Ino his trademark friendly smile Naruto said, "Hey Ino, do you want to go get a bite to eat? From what I hear that new restaurant that opened up on Third Street is supposed to have an excellent menu."

Ino leaned over, gave Naruto a quick peck on the cheek, and then said, "Sounds great Naruto so lead the way." The two of them then walked side by side towards the restaurant. A few people paid attention to the young couple but nobody said anything one way or the other about it. Thanks to Konoha's grapevine, everyone and the Inuzuka's newborn pups knew that Naruto was dating Ino, Makoto, and Ami. Everyone had also heard about how hard Naruto tried to keep all three girls happy and that he had been very successful in this regards. As far as the average person in Konoha was concerned about Naruto's love life, the question was: when would the Uchiha take a lesson from it?

Once Ino and Naruto were seated, with Naruto pulling out the chair for Ino, the conversation resumed. "So Ino," Naruto casually said as he looked at his menu, "What do you think of being a big sister? After all, you were an only child for so long and I'm curious as to how you're handling this new change."

Setting down her own menu, Ino put her head on her hand and softly tapped her head. After thinking about Naruto's question for a minute she said, "I honestly haven't given it too much thought. My mother right now is barely showing that she's pregnant so I've still got several more months to go before the little one is actually here. Dad is thinking about getting a genin team to clean out one of the rooms that was previously used for storage to become a nursery. Overall I'm just playing it by ear and hoping that I'll be able to get a decent night's sleep once the little one comes."

Naruto, who had put his menu down just a second ago, nodded his head and gave Ino a smile. "Don't worry about getting a good night's rest Ino," Naruto cheerfully said, "If you ever need a place to sleep in peace and quite you can always come over to my place. There are more then enough empty bedrooms for you to be able to pick one as your place away from home. If for some reason you or your parents are uncomfortable with the idea of you staying the night at my house I can think of a few alternatives. Ami for example is working right now on a seal that will muffle selected sounds. Given the progress that Ami has made it would be a safe assumption to believe that the seal will be finished by the time your sibling is born."

Before Ino could respond to Naruto's suggestions, the waiter came asking for their orders. From the look in the waiter's eyes it was obvious that the waiter did not like the fact that Naruto was in the restaurant. Nevertheless, the waiter was a professional and gave Naruto all the customary respect and politeness that any patron of the restaurant could expect.

With their orders taken care of, Ino gave Naruto a smile and said, "That's so sweet Naruto. If you don't mind I would rather go with seeing if I could stay over at your place. Ami shouldn't feel pressured in any way to finish that seal just so that I can get a good night's rest. Besides," at this point Ino's eyes and voice a slightly mischievous quality, "I can think of one bed that I wouldn't mind staying in for the night at your house."

Naruto didn't even bat an eye at the little innuendo in Ino's last sentence as it was just one of Ino's little quirks. She had always had a sharp and witty tongue that she would use whenever she wanted to. Lately Ino had decided to use that wit of hers to try and make Naruto blush. This was something that Naruto blamed Anko and her slightly excitable tendencies for, but personally Naruto didn't really complain.

Makoto was also similar to Ino in this regard, but Makoto used an entirely different approach. Unlike Ino who used words, Makoto simply let her physique do the suggesting by allowing Naruto to see her in various states of undress. There was nothing raunchy or trashy with how Makoto chose to reveal her natural beauty as far as Naruto was concerned. She didn't do any stupid nude poses or sit on his bed in exotic undergarments like Naruto had overheard some other ninjas talk about when discussing an adult book. Instead, Makoto liked to accompany Naruto in the bath and help him scrub his back and a few other innocent areas like his arms. Likewise Makoto had allowed Naruto to scrub her back which Naruto had done once rather nervously. Other then that there had been a strict, unconscious, rule of look but don't touch between both of them.

Shaking his head very slightly, Naruto pushed his thoughts on the suggestiveness of his two girlfriends off to the side. Instead, Naruto decided to ask about something else that he was curious about. "How does being the only genin on the team feel Ino? I hope that Kiba and I being Chunins doesn't give you any problems." This was something that Naruto was really hopping everything was alright for Ino. Naruto was pretty sure that he wouldn't be very happy at all if he was a genin and his teammates were all Chunin.

Shrugging her shoulders, Ino said in a surprisingly laid back manner, "What can I say? I lost in the preliminaries and will most likely have to find another team to take the exams with again. You and Kiba earned your promotions and I'm extremely proud of that. Also, I have heard that there is some investigation going on over the legality of Sasuke's victory." At this point Naruto raised an eyebrow and he was very curious about such an unexpected move. For her part Ino just kept on talking, "Apparently most of the higher level ninjas present at the preliminaries reported that they detected a chakra spike during my match. This chakra spike happened just before Sasuke got his 'second wind' in our fight. Given the fact that this chakra was foreign to both Sasuke and I along with the fact that there was a residual trace of this chakra on Sasuke after the match, has caused questions of foul play being brought up."

Ino's voice then got quieter and more nervous as she continued on, "This is an extremely serious situation Naruto and I don't know what could happen. All I know on this situation for sure is that if Sasuke did in fact have someone helping him to rig his match there will be serious consequences. Of course, the penalties if this is the case will vary depending on Sasuke's involvement. Due to how hard it was to get the Chunin Exams set up in the first place between all of the different villages, the punishments for cheating outside of the information gathering test are extremely harsh. In fact Sasuke could literally lose a hand if our match was rigged and he was in on the whole thing."

Naruto gently reached across the table and softly caressed Ino's hand to help calm her down. Since Luna had made sure that Naruto knew every important treaty Konoha had, he knew what Ino was worried about. Due the nature of the Chunin Exams, a set of draconian regulations had been set up to prevent villages from using the Exams to 'deal with' other villages' ninjas. In fact Naruto knew that there were several people on the High Council that were trying to use those regulations as an excuse to push for a harsh Suna-Konoha treaty. Luckily future Suna-Konoha relations those extremists had no real political power.

In a soothing and gentle voice Naruto said, "Don't worry your sweet head about it Ino. Say what you will about the jerk, but there is no way that Sasuke would try and rig a match. Use every dirty trick in the book yes, but then so do all ninjas. His pride would never accept such a victory. Also, with Orochimaru's interest in the Sharingan the only logical source for the interloper would be Sound. At the most Sasuke will get a stern talking to about being more aware of his surroundings and the Hokage will review your file to see if you deserve the rank of Chunin. Section 18 of the Edomaru treaty does clearly state the punishments and reparations for any infractions of the Chunin Exams."

The relief that Naruto's words gave Ino was instantly visible with how her body posture relaxed. This fact made Naruto very happy although he didn't show it. One thing about Ino that Naruto had always admired was the fact that outside of her ninja duties she was a very caring and compassionate young woman. Like all men, Naruto had been worried and hurt when he had seen one of his loved ones in distress. With that matter now safely settled, Naruto was able to direct the conversation back to lighter and more cheerful topics.

* * *

Makoto was in the front yard of the Tsukino clan house practicing her taijutsu when she heard someone walk into the yard from the gate. Slowly turning around, Makoto saw that Tsunade was the visiter. Makoto then dropped into a more relaxed stance and cheerfully said, "Hello Tsunade. If you're here to talk with Hotaru I'm afraid you just missed her as she left for the library about 15 minutes ago. Apparently the clan library didn't have a particular medical book that Hotaru wanted to reference."

Tsunade nodded her head and said in her laid back authoritative tone, "That's good to hear Makoto. However, I didn't come here today to check up on Hotaru." Makoto then got a very curious look on her face and Tsunade tone became more humble and unsure. "I actually came here because I need your help Makoto."

Makoto's jaw actually dropped due to the shock caused by Tsunade's statement. It just seemed strange to Makoto for a person of Tsuande's experience and fame to actually be requesting help from a person that was more inexperienced then her. In a very confused voice, Makoto asked, "What could you possibly need my help in? After all, you're more knowledgeable then me in all of the subjects that I've focused on. Besides, there are dozens of people to help you in any of your weaker areas outside of being a ninja and those people are all better then me in those areas."

Tsunade shook her head and said, "You sell yourself too short Makoto. Besides you ARE the only person I know of that I can go for help on this new situation of mine. There is absolutely no one else who has the information that can help me." Seeing that Makoto was still confused, Tsuande sighed and waved while saying, "Follow me Makoto and I'll show you what I mean."

Not wanting to disrespect her elders, and especially one that she respected like Tsunade, Makoto obediently followed Tsunade as the older woman walked over to a small tree in the yard. Makoto then watched as Tsuande gently placed her own hand on the tree and closed her eyes. Focusing on Tsuande's hand, Makoto then watched as a faint glow of green chakra emanated from Tsunade's hand. At first Makoto was curious as to why Tsuande was using healing chakra on a tree which would have absolutely no effect whatsoever, but then she realized what Tsunade was doing.

Makoto then said in a very shocked voiced, "H-how are you able to use Mokuton?!" Imminently after saying that, Makoto got very apologetic, "Sorry if I've offended you Tsunade. It's just that according to what I've been told you've never shown any signs of being able to use Mokuton."

After removing her hand from the tree, Tsunade gave a small grunt and said, "I've never shown the ability or the possibility to use Mokuton. However, for some reason that escapes me I have suddenly developed the ability to use Mokuton since arriving in Konoha." Pausing for a second to finish straitening up, Tsunade then said in a more pleading voice, "Now do you see why I need your help Makoto. You're the only one alive who has knowledge of how to use Mokuton properly and fully. Also you're the only repository of Mokuton jutsus since my grandfather's Mokuton scroll was destroyed during the Kyuubi's assault 14 years ago."

Quickly making up her mind, Makoto cheerfully said, "Don't worry Tsunade. I'll help you with your Mokuton abilities as best I can. However, I still haven't been able to bring up all of the knowledge that the Shodai gave me at will so there is the possibility that I might unconsciously skip over a step." After saying this Makoto hung her head slightly in embarrassment.

The Slug Sannin slowly walked over to Makoto and put a hand on Makoto's shoulders. Tsunade then put her other hand under Makoto's chin and gently forced Makoto to look her in the eye. She then gave Makoto a small smile and said, "Don't worry about it Makoto. All I'm asking for is if you will help me. It doesn't matter how much or how little you can help me; any and all help is appreciated."

Makoto then began to relax even as she remained under Tsuande's gaze. At first Makoto had been very afraid that Tsunade would be angry with her when she told Tsuande about the memory problems. As far as Makoto knew Tsunade was a reasonably rational and level-headed woman when sober and still exceptionally rational as a drunk. However, Makoto also knew from personal experience that people tend to be sensitive about things belonging to their ancestors and even more so when it was a beloved ancestor. A part of Makoto had been very afraid that Tsunade might not believe Makoto and accuse her of trying to deny Tsunade access to her heritage.

With this worry which in retrospect could seem silly to an outsider gone, Makoto was in a better mood and was more then willing to help Tsunade out. She would have helped Tsunade anyway, but it's easier to work with someone when there not breathing down your neck. Giving Tsunade a bright smile, Makoto cheerfully said, "So when do you want to get started Tsunade?"

* * *

Temari walked out of Konoha's High Council chamber extremely glad that her meeting for the day was over. After two and a half months of working with the Hokage and corresponding with Suna Temari had thought that they had finally created a new peace treaty between Konoha and Suna. Unfortunately, the minor group that wanted to inflict very harsh penalties on Suna had tried to pull a fast one on the treaty committee. Using an obscure law hadn't been used in almost sixty years those council members had dragged the treaty before the full council. Those hard-liners had attempted to turn the populous against the treaty.

For a while there Temari had actually been afraid that fighting would recommence between Suna and Konoha. Even now, Temari could remember exactly how she had felt as she watched from her spot on the floor as the crowd was turned against her. Just when she had thought that everything was lost, Naruto had come to the rescue. Naruto had taken the stand and he had begun to tell a story. He talked about how almost a century ago in his mother's ancestral land there had been a great war between several countries. Going on he talked about how the victors had used a harsh treaty to punish the losers and make it so the losers could never fight again. Then Naruto talked about how the bitterness of the losers grew into such a hatred for the victors that they practically sold their souls to a man who promised them the power to crush the victors.

That tale of Naruto's, along with his explaining the horrors that had accompanied that war, calmed the council down and made all but the hard liners fully agree to sign the treaty. Temari herself had been moved to tears when she heard Naruto tell his tale and in the moment she was finally able to understand Naruto. Or at least, Temari had finally been able to understand why Naruto was like he was in political matters. Naruto wasn't some idealist trying to force his ideals on others; Naruto was a person who had been able to draw on experiences no one else knew about.

Drearily shaking her head, Temari brought her mind back to the present. Temari then started to walk back to the consulate so she could notify Gaara about when he was to come and sign the treaty making it fully official. It had actually been quite a surprise when Temari had received notification that Gaara had become the new Kazekage. In fact, Temari had actually sprayed her tea all over Ami who had been visiting her at the time to see how Temari was handling being away from home for so long.

Of course, once Gaara explained in the letter why he had been chosen as the Kazekage it made a lot of sense to Temari. Suna needed a strong leader who could quell dissent and rally the support of the masses. Gaara had been able to quell dissent for a long time if he had chosen to use his power in that manner. As for being able to rally the support of the masses, Gaara had been a changed man ever since his fight with Naruto. Not even Gaara himself could explain it, but something about that match had struck a deep cord within Gaara. That something had completely cut through Gaara's emotional walls and struck his heart. Ever since then, Gaara had felt the desire to protect those people who were precious to him and this desire had grown into a wish to make up for his past sins.

It had become obvious to Temari that Naruto was a very unique young man and as she continued to walk towards the consulate Temari thought about him. On the battlefield Naruto was practically a genius with how he mixed his immense, at least for a chunin or Jonin, power with his intelligence. As a friend Naruto was generous, considerate, and willing to ask for or offer help. In the council room Naruto was like some mythic prince as he was able to convince his opponents that his way was the right way.

After thinking like that Temari turned to face the wall of the building she was walking by and lightly banged her head against the wall. Temari was angry at herself for how she had been thinking about Naruto. That grandiose fluff that her mind had started using to describe Naruto was really starting to get annoying for her. Yes Naruto was very good in those areas she just described, but her mind was starting to make him seem larger then life.

While she continued on towards her destination, Temari tried to figure out why she was acting like this around Naruto. Ever so slowly, Temari came to realize why she was acted like a school girl inside her mind whenever she was around Naruto: she loved him. For a girl like Temari who had never even had a crush, or had the chance to develop one with a brother like Gaara, this revelation almost stopped her in her tracks. Luckily, at least for Temari's sense of decorum, she was able to make it back to the consulate without really showing her shock, surprise, and frustration.

Once inside the Suna consulate, Temari stormed into her office and locked the door behind her. The wind mistress then sat at her desk and ran her fingers through her hair in such a manner that would make an outside observer think she was trying to pull her hair out. Temari then let out a scream and said, "What the hell's wrong with me?! Why, out of all the men in Suna or Konoha did I have to fall in love with Naruto? I mean, the guy already has THREE girlfriends."

Slumping back down in her seat, Temari turned to look at a small faded picture on her desk. It was a picture of her mother taken just after Temari's mother had become a Jonin. Temari had always felt a close connection to her mother even though her mother had died when she was only three years old. In fact, it had been the stories of her mother that had made Temari decide to become a wind mistress like her mother before her.

After reverently picking up the picture, Temari softly said, "Would you be disappointed with me mother? You were a strong and determined woman who did not allow herself to be told what she was to do. I know that your in a far better place then _he_ is now and I know that you would love me no matter what I became, but I can't help but be worried that your ashamed of the woman I've grown up to be. First I was unable to help Gaara become the brother that he could be due to my fear of his power."

"And now, huh, now I can't stop thinking about a boy who is about two years younger then me and is already involved with three women. What am I supposed to do? What would you recommend that I do? Even if I wouldn't mind being part of a harem, which I seriously doubt right now, there is no way that I could join. It's not like I can just go up to Naruto and ask if he would be willing to take on a fourth girlfriend. Naruto probably gets several requests from girls who want him as their boyfriend due to his current station so he would probably just lump me in with those girls."

"Besides, I can't risk the relations between Suna and Konoha over something so trivial like my own romantic desires. Naruto has been one of the biggest and most powerful supporters besides the Hokage for a generous peace settlement between the two villages. Even though the treaty is practically signed and sealed, things could still go horribly wrong. If I was to try and start a relationship with Naruto now I'm sure that those hard-liners would try and claim that I was bedding Naruto for more favorable terms. It wouldn't matter if it's true or not, all those idiots would have to due is stir the masses a bit and let mob mentality do the rest."

Temari then put the picture of her mother back in its previous location and started to cry on her desk. She then laid her hands on her desk and started crying on them. "But I can't help it," Temari said in between sobs, "Every time I see Naruto I can't help but feel these feelings. I almost wish I hadn't realized what I was feeling for Naruto because then I could at least pretend that my feelings weren't there. How am I supposed to talk with, let alone see, Naruto without wanting to give him a kiss? What am I supposed to do?"


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: My owning Naruto or Sailor Moon is like, it's like, Rats! I don't have any witty or sarcastic remarks today! Anyway, I don't own these series.

Ami slowly felt herself wake up even though she kept her closed and tried to go back to sleep. As far as Ami's half awake mind was concerned, she was just too comfortable right where she was to bother getting up. She had managed to find just the right spot to sleep on the bed. Her blankets were lying in just the right spot to keep her nice and toasty. That hand on her breast was-

As soon as that last thought came to Ami's mind she was jolted into full consciousness. Her eyes wide open, Ami quickly looked around her immediate area while trying to not disturb the owner of the hand. Ami's immediate panic lessened when she saw that she was fully clothed and that her clothes were to ones she had put on last night before going to bed. The panic that she had felt then became confusion as Ami's eyes to her that she was in the master bedroom of the Tsukino Clan house.

Once Ami knew where she was, she wanted to know who the owner of the hand was. She first followed the arm of the hand until it crossed over her side and out of her view. Ami then pause a moment to think over her options before she rolled over slightly in order to get a view of the person behind her. To Ami's surprise, although there was a part of her that had already suspected the hand on her breast belonged to Naruto who was sleeping soundly next to her.

With the knowledge of where she was and who was next to her, part of Ami wanted to snuggle next to Naruto and fall back asleep. However, the more rational and inquisitive part of Ami kept her awake. That part of Ami wanted to know why she was in this (wonderful) position when Ami could distinctly remember going to sleep in her own room across the hall. Since Ami knew she didn't sleep walk, she must have gotten up last night and come in here.

Slowly the memories on why she was sleeping Naruto's bed came back to Ami. Last night Ami had woken up crying due to nightmares revolving around the assault on the Dark Kingdom and the coming of Pharaoh 90. Naruto had body-flickered into her room afraid that something wrong was happening to Ami. Once Naruto had managed to get Ami to stop crying he had taken her to the kitchen and had prepared a snack for her. The two them and then spent an hour in the kitchen just talking about non-important things. After that Naruto, who had seemed to have sensed Ami's need to be with someone and not be alone, had shyly offered to let Ami sleep in his room with her.

Ami let out a contented sigh as her mind came back to the present. She then gently rolled over so she could see Naruto's face without turning her head. From this position Ami could clearly see Naruto's face that was half-buried in his pillow. This sight made Ami feel a gentle warm feeling within her heart. Naruto tried so hard to keep her, her two co-girlfriends, and all the other people that he cared about happy while asking for relatively little in return.

After gazing at Naruto's face for a minute, Ami gently reached out with her hand and ran it through Naruto's hair. Ami then leaned over Naruto's sleeping form and softly whispered to herself, "I love you Naruto. You're my most precious person and my greatest treasure." As her last words left her lips, Ami leaned down and kissed Naruto on the lips.

For Ami that short kiss on Naruto's bed was a pledge on her part that she would stand by Naruto no matter what. It didn't and wouldn't matter at all to Ami that Naruto had other girlfriends and would probably have children with those women. Of course the possibility of Naruto fathering any children was still a few years down the road. But when that time came, Ami was certain that Naruto would be a great father. Naruto was one of those rare people who had a large enough heart that he could love multiple people equally.

Besides, as far as Ami could see she would only have one more co-girlfriend when Naruto's love life 'settled down'. Ami had seen the signs in Naruto's eye that Temari had claimed a piece of his heart and that Temari herself appeared to be reciprocating those feelings. For Ami the question on her mind was when, not if, Naruto and Temari would get together. Temari, from what Ami could see, was trying to fight her feelings for Naruto out of worry about the treaty and because Temari was afraid of being rejected.

While rolling back over to her side of the bed, Ami decided to put the issue of Naruto and Temari out of her mind. Things between those two would come when they came and the worst thing that Ami could do would be to try and push things along. Ami then gave Naruto one last loving glance before got off the bed and left the room.

* * *

A gentle breeze gently blew by the guard at Konoha's main gate and was greatly welcomed by the guard. Normally the guard wouldn't feel nervous about guarding this gate, but today was different. Today Sarutobi was standing at the gate accompanied by a full honor guard made up of ANBU and most members of the high council. Everyone was at the west gate because Gaara the Fifth Kazekage was expected to arrive today on a diplomatic visit to promote the new peace between the two villages. Sarutobi was waiting at the gate so he could great Gaara as an equal and not slight Gaara. Temari was standing by Sarutobi so that she could be one of the first ones to great her brother.

The council members who were with Sarutobi could be divided into three groups. There were those that wanted to show their support for the new treaty like Naruto. Also there were those that were there because not showing up could hurt their image such as Hiashe Huyga. Finally there were those that wanted to milk the treaty for all that it was worth. This last group was fairly tiny due to the fact that most of more self-serving council members had been part of 'The Fallen'.

Even though all of the entourage was there because of Gaara's imminent arrival, the council members were very busy discussing other matters for the moment. Out of all this conversations the most interesting conversation as far as on lookers were concerned was the one between Naruto and Hiashe. What drew most of the onlookers' attention to this otherwise trivial conversation was how Naruto and Hiashe were acting towards each other. While Naruto was casually talking to Hiashe as an equal, Hiashe was giving Naruto all the respect that a normal person would give to a tiger that was locked in the same room with them.

Finally after waiting for half an hour, Gaara's entourage was spotted by Temari. The Suna convoy was made up of a pair of chunin that were acting as a vanguard. This pair was followed by Gaara who was surrounded by the traditional four man guard of the Kazekage. A little ways behind the last Kazekage guard was a single chunin guarding the rear. Compared to the twenty plus ninja party that the Yondaime Kazekage was known to have whenever he went to an important public event, Gaara's more modest convoy conveyed the fact that Gaara was important without seeming gaudy.

Gaara's escort stopped about 50 feet from Konoha's gates and waited as tradition for a treaty signing party dictated. Sarutobi, with his own four man guard, dignity walked out of the gates towards Gaara and stopped about twenty feet away from Gaara's party. At this point Gaara and Sarutobi left their guards behind and walked towards each other before they stopped facing each other.

There was a moment of silence before Sarutobi greeted Gaara by saying, "Welcome to Konoha Gaara of the Desert, Gondaime Kazekage of Suna. May the Wisdom of the Winds always give you its breath."

In his usual dry and tired sounding voice Gaara said, "I thank you Homaru Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha. May the Will of Fire constantly forge your thoughts."

With the customary greetings out of the way, Sarutobi and Gaara then politely bowed to each other. After both kages stopped bowing Gaara's party started to walk towards Konoha's gates. Sarutobi and Gaara allowed waited until Gaara's party was starting to walk past them before Sarutobi and Gaara started to towards Konoha. Soon enough Gaara and Sarutobi's group had grown to include Sarutobi's guards and the assembled council members.

This large and surprisingly orderly procession then slowly made its way through Konoha while being carefully watched by the people it passed by. It took the procession about fifteen minutes to make its way to the plaza in front of the Hokage Tower. At the edge of the plaza directly in front of the Tower was a fine oak table which had the new treaty resting on it. The procession stopped in front of the table and then everything quieted down in the plaza.

Gaara and Sarutobi slowly walked out of the crowd side by side towards the table. No one got in the two kages way, instead everyone just glided out Gaara and Sarutobi's way. Once out of the crowd and by the table, both leaders picked up a pen and prepared to sign the treaty. Sarutobi, due to being the more senior Kage, signed the treaty first and then Gaara signed. As soon as Gaara put his pen down after signing the treaty a great cheer of happiness came from the crowd.

* * *

The treaty signing ceremony may have been a relatively modest affair, but the parties afterward celebrating the treaty signing were very extravagant. While one could find a party practically on every street, the biggest party in town was being held at Sarutobi's clan house. Sarutobi had opened his party up to all the council members', active Jonin, and their families along with having Gaara as his guest of honor. Each family had been given their own table and the table had been arranged in a U shape with Sarutobi's table, where Gaara and Temari were sitting due to Gaara being the guest of honor, in the key stone spot.

Over at the Yamanaka table, Inoichi stopped eating his steak for a moment to look around the table. His eyes quickly came to rest on Ino and Inoichi saw that Ino was hardly touching her food. Instead of enjoying her meal Ino was glancing away from the table. Inoichi, like any good father, was concerned about Ino and so he discreetly followed Ino's line of sight with his eyes. Over all it wasn't that big of a surprise to Inoichi to find out that Ino was looking at Tsukino table. More specifically, Ino was gazing at Naruto as he sat with Makoto and Ami at his sides.

In such a way that he would not attract any attention to himself Inoichi leaned back into his seat and thought about what to do with his little princess in regards to her prince charming. Over all Inoichi couldn't really see anything wrong with Ino's choice of a boyfriend. Well there was the fact that Naruto had two other girlfriends, but that wasn't too big of an issue for Inoichi due to the fact that Naruto wouldn't be able to get away with a monogamous relationship. Besides, Ino was fully aware of Naruto's other relationships and wasn't bothered by them.

Thanks to his through study of psychology and inter-personal interactions Inoichi could make an educated guess at what was bothering Ino. Actually a person didn't really need to have a master's in psychology to realize that Ino wanted to be by her boyfriend's side, but that was neither here nor there. Inoichi thought about what he could do to make Ino more cheerful without out making Ino think that he was butting into her love life. After thinking for a few minutes an idea came to Inoichi and he said, "You better start eating more soon Ino. They'll be putting on the dance music in about twenty minutes and you wouldn't want to collapse on the dance for from not eating enough."

Just as Inoichi had been hoping, Ino stopped staring at Naruto and turned her attention to her plate. While turning back to his own meal, Inoichi continued to think about Ino and Naruto. It had been almost five months since Naruto and Ino had started dating and they were still going strong. Sure they had fought a little bit like all couples do, but on each of those times they had worked things out between themselves. All in all Inoichi could see that Ino and Naruto truly loved each other and nothing by this point would probably change that.

This brought to mind something that Inoichi had been subconsciously trying to not think about: marriage. By the laws of most of the Elemental Countries, including Fire Country, women could marry at 14 and men could marry at 15. Generally civilians waited until their late teens or early twenties to marry while ninjas took advantage of these laws and married young. Inoichi himself had only married at the relatively late age of 19, but that was because his wife's family had asked him to wait until his wife was 17. However Inoichi knew that he most likely wouldn't be able to get Ino to wait until she was 17 before marrying Naruto. Sure, Ino probably didn't have any serious thoughts of marriage right now, but Inoichi knew that it was only a matter of time before she did.

Carefully thinking over the possible outcomes Inoichi knew that one of three things could happen. Ino could take the initiative and propose to Naruto, Ino could wait and have Naruto propose to her, or Inoichi could do the traditional thing and send a formal request to Naruto for the union of the two clans through marriage. Personally Inoichi would rather just wait as long as he could and have either Naruto or Ino be the one to propose. However, sending the formal request would have the advantage of keeping anyone on the council from getting any ideas about the security of the senshi bloodline.

Inoichi had spent so much time thinking about Ino's potential marriage that he hadn't noticed the time that had past. He was brought back to reality by his wife who gently nudged him in the ribs. After blinking his eyes Inoichi turned to face his wife and said, "Sorry about that honey I was thinking."

Mrs. Yamanaka had a slight twinkle in her eyes and she then said, "What were you thinking about dear? I highly doubt that it was how your steak tasted as Chouza does enough of that for the both of you." The tone Mrs. Yamanaka spoke in made it obvious as to which parent she had inherited her sharp tongue and wits from.

Inoichi just chuckled for a second and said, "Your right dear Chouza does think enough about food for all members of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. I was thinking about our little princess and her prince charming." As he said this Inoichi gestured to the dance floor where Ino and Naruto were currently dancing next to Setsuna & Kakashi with Gaara & Hotaru nearby as well. Once Mrs. Yamanaka's eyes were on Ino and Naruto, Inoichi continued by saying, "You know as well as I do how close those two are. I was thinking about sending a formal marriage request to Naruto concerning him and Ino."

* * *

Temari was walking though the streets of Konoha towards the Tsukino Clan house. She had been invited over by Ami so that the two of them could talk and just have some fun. While Temari had slowly gotten closer to all three of Naruto's girlfriends, she was closest to Ami. This was in part because Ami had made a deliberate attempt to connect to Temari whereas Makoto and Ino had just grown on Temari.

Pausing in the street for a second, Temari turned and looked at her reflection in a store mirror. Today Temari had decided to dress in a plain black work kimono that showed off her figure while still being very modest. Temari knew that she had unconsciously selected this particular dress so that if Naruto was to see her he could appreciate her looks without thinking that she was cheep. The only reason why Temari didn't feel like she was taking advantage of her friendship with Ami was because of the fact that Ami seemed to lead her to spots where Naruto would be at. It was as if, strange as it seemed to Temari, Ami was actually trying to show Temari off to Naruto.

Turning her attention back to the street, Temari continued to walk towards the Tuskino home. After about ten more minutes of walking Temari arrived at the gates of the clan house. Temari was about to go inside the fenced in area when she noticed Tsunade heading towards the house as well. Seeing that she was a little early, Temari decided to wait a moment so that she could greet Tsunade. When Tsunade got to be about 8 feet away from her Temari called out, "Good day Lady Senju. Are you here to talk to your apprentice Hotaru?"

Tsunade gave off a slight scowl and said in an annoyed tone, "Don't call me Lady Senju. Calling me by my first name or lady Tsunade is perfectly alright. I get annoyed when people speak so formally to me. More often then not the person doing the talking is trying to sweet talk me into lending political support for some stupid thing." After seeing Temari's reaction Tsunade gave a small smile and said, "Don't worry Temari I know that you're not one of those annoying boot kissers. And in answer to your question I am not here to talk with Hotaru, however I probably will check in on her at some point."

For a second Temari considered asking Tsunade what she was doing at the Tsukino compound if she wasn't here to visit Hotaru. However, Temari had quickly decided to not pursue any further line of investigations. It wasn't really her business why Tsunade had shown up and as far as Temari was concerned that meant that she shouldn't but in. The two blonds then opened the door and headed towards the house proper of the complex.

Once inside the house, the two blondes went in different directions. Temari herself headed over to the Tsukino library figuring that Ami was likely waiting for in there. Sure enough Ami was in the library and was reading a rather large book. As Temari approached Ami, Temari could see that the book Ami was reading was the clan chronicles of the Namikaze. After waiting a few minutes for Ami to stop reading and seeing no progress, Temari politely cleared her throat.

The noise from Temari's action startled Ami a bit causing the blue haired girl to look up. With a barely visible blush on her checks, Ami meekly said, "Sorry Temari. I didn't mean to lose track of time, but the clan records are just so fascinating. Apparently several different Namikaze clan heads had thought up new ideas for seals and left their ideas throughout this book hoping that someone down the road would have the skills necessary to actually create the seals they dreamt up." After Ami stopped talking about the book Temari sat down and the two girls started to talk about various things going on in their lives.

* * *

Less then half an hour after arriving at the Tsukino home Temari left the house and headed over to one of the training fields. Temari was accompanied by Ami and the rest of the Tsukino Clan due to the fact that something was going to happen at the training field that none of them wanted to miss. Tsunade had shown up at the Tsukino compound today so she could challenge Naruto to a spar.

This was MAJOR news as far as Temari was concerned due to the fact that Tsunade was not known to challenge people to spars. Naturally Temari, being a secret minor fan of Tsunade's like all konoichi with serious aspirations, had to watch the upcoming fight. Ami was walking right beside Temari with the Mercury Computer in her hands. When Temari had asked what the computer was for Ami explained that it would allow her to record and analyze the upcoming fight. Temari couldn't understand exactly how the 'computer' was going to do this, but she trusted Ami on the matter.

Once the party reached the empty training field it stopped for a second to get organized. Tsunade and Naruto headed out into the center of the field while everyone else took cover by a small wooden fence. The fence really wouldn't offer much protection if a major jutsu came at it, but it did provide a great viewing spot. With everyone out of the way Tsunade quickly laid down the ground rules for the fight which were only two: No killing moves and no summons would be allowed.

Naruto and Tsunade both bowed their heads towards each other and then the fight started. Both of them leapt back about 5 feet a piece and they started to circle each other. This circling ended fairly quickly when Naruto pulled out a shuriken and used the Shuriken Shadow Clone jutsu. This was countered by Tsunade quickly using Earth Release: Earth Wall and hiding behind the new wall.

It turned out that Naruto had been expecting Tsunade to use a defensive jutsu and he had only use the shuriken as a distraction. In fact Naruto had been running the whole time Tsunade was using her jutsu so he could attack her from the sides. However Tsunade was used to fighting against that tactic and she slammed her fist into the ground. The resulting creator and debris forced Naruto to pause for a moment.

That pause was all Tsunade needed to go on the attack. Tsunade ran at Naruto like a lioness on the hunt with her fist ready to send Naruto to dream land. Thinking quickly, Naruto used his Ninja Arts: Clone jutsu in an attempt to distract Tsunade. As the two dozen Naruto clones descended upon Tsunade, a small grin played across the Slug Princess's face. She used her fists to plow through the regular and shadow clones until they were all shortly destroyed.

Pausing for a second, Tsunade carefully looked around to try and find where Naruto had hidden himself. Naruto couldn't be hiding underground because both Tsunade and Naruto were fairly certain about the other's speed. It would be almost impossible for Naruto to be able to pull of an Earth Release: Headhunter jutsu on Tsunade before she could use her pound her fist into the ground. In Tsunade's mind, that left only one likely hiding spot that Naruto could be using: the trees.

Just as Tsunade figured out where Naruto could be hiding, she heard the faint sound of someone jumping off of a tree branch. Tsunade immediately looked up and saw Naruto somersaulting high above her head. In the middle of his roll, Naruto pulled out several shuriken and used a massive Shuriken Shadow Clone jutsu to cause hundreds of shuriken rain down on Tsunade. This caused Tsunade to panic and she used Wood Release: Wood Barrier jutsu to shield herself from Naruto's attack.

* * *

As soon as Temari saw the jutsu that Tsunade used to defend herself Temari's eyes bulged out in shock. Temari just could not believe that what she was seeing in front of her was actually happening. Like many ninjas, Temari was aware of the Mokuton abilities that had made the Shodai Hokage so famous. Temari also knew that no one else in the Senju family had ever shown any signs of being able to use Mokuton. In fact the only person that Temari had ever known to be able to use Mokuton besides the Shodai Hokage was Makoto and she kept it very low key. So where did Tsunade's sudden Mokuton abilities come from?

Ami was sitting next to Temari and Ami was furiously working to analyze the data her computer was getting from Naruto and Tsunade's fight. As the fight continued on in front of her, Ami ignored it in favor of trying to understand the strange readings the Mercury Computer was getting. One of the patterns from the fight that was displayed on the screen seemed very familiar to Ami. After quickly searching through the Mercury computer's memory Ami then pulled up the file and compared the readings side by side. To Ami's absolute shock the two scans were exactly the same.

Immediately Ami howled out, "STOP THE MATCH!" This caused everyone, including Naruto and Tsunade who had Naruto in a headlock, to turn and look at Ami. Ami then said in a slightly nervous tone, "Does anyone want to know WHY Tsunade was able to perform that Mokuton jutsu when by all accounts she shouldn't have been able to?" This caused everyone to come closer to Ami as they all wanted to know what Ami had discovered. It had to be big for Ami to interrupt a match like she did and the fact that it was related to Tsunade's new abilities made the information that much more interesting.

Seeing everyone crowding around her, Ami hit a small button on the Mercury computer which caused a holographic projection of the computer's screen to appear in the air. Ami opened up a file that showed a picture of a graphed wave and said, "This is a scan taken from Naruto and Tsunade's recent match. What you are all currently looking at is Tsunade's chakra signature. And this-" Ami paused for a moment to show another graphed wave below Tsunade's, "is a scan that was recorded from Makoto just before she transformed into Sailor Jupiter for the very first time."

Everyone watched in silence as Ami hit a button and the two images merged together and a few tiny red circles appeared on the new line. In a calm but serious manner Ami continued on saying, "As you can see there are a few differences between Makoto and Tsunade's chakra signature. However, they match up on all important points. This leads to only one conclusion: Tsuande is an unawaken Sailor Scout whose powers are starting to activate."

* * *

In a darkened corner of the Main Uchiha house Sasuke was lying against a wall brooding. Ever since the invasion things had gone from bad to worse as far as Sasuke was concerned. Kakashi hadn't taught any new jutsu's to Sasuke and had only shown Sakura a few worthless jutsus that were befitting a waste like her. As far as Sasuke was concerned that white haired moron should have been focusing all of his time and effort solely on Sasuke's development. Instead, that fool Kakashi was going on about 'teamwork' and was wasting time with that emerald haired civilian Setsuna.

Thinking about Kakashi's apparent 'love interest' as the weakling Hurano put it drew Sasuke's thoughts towards Naruto. Even the mere mention of Naruto's name left a foul taste in Sasuke's mouth. Ever since Naruto had stolen his victory against Gaara, Sasuke had to watch from the sidelines as people heaped praise and glory onto Naruto. Praise and glory the rightfully belonged to Sasuke himself instead of Naruto. It unacceptable to Sasuke that Naruto got the real missions and real training while he, a person of noble blood, was stuck doing worthless chores for lazy bums.

All of a sudden the gloomy atmosphere around Sasuke was broken by a smooth evilly seductive voice saying, "You know Sasuke. Konoha will never allow you to reach your true potential. The village fears you. They fear the fact that you have the potential to grow more powerful then they can imagine. Itachi grew more powerful then Konoha expected and he grew out of their control. They know that you have the power and potential within yourself to destroy Itachi, so the hold you back. For you see, they know that if you grow to your potential you will forever be beyond their control."

When Sasuke first heard the voice talking he had jumped up into a defensive stance. However, as the voice continued to talk Sasuke ever so slowly relaxed his guard. The words that his unknown guest was saying caused Sasuke to think about his situation and cause him to become angry. Sasuke was angry because his unknown guest was correct; Konoha feared his power as an Uchiha and was trying to hold him back. As long as he stayed in Konoha Sasuke was growing ever surer that he wouldn't be able to achieve his purpose in life, the slaying of Itachi.

Carefully looking around his room, Sasuke coldly said, "You may have a point about Konoha. However, I want to know why you're bringing it up. Telling me this is pointless unless you're here with a proposal to change the situation."

Suddenly Sasuke saw someone steep out of the shadows and give him a friendly smile. The now revealed Kabuto simply stated, "Very good Sasuke, very good. I am indeed here with an offer to help you deal with the situation at hand. You see, you have caught my master Orochimaru's eye. He was once like yourself strong, intelligent, and cleaver. However, Konoha tried to limit and control Orochimaru forcing him to flee the village. Since then Lord Orochimaru has been searching the continent for those people who are like him. People who are denied the chance to grow to that potential just because others around them know that it will be impossible to control those people"

Kabuto then pointed to Sasuke's shoulder and said, "That seal given to you by Lord Orochimaru was a test. Orochimaru saw your potential and wanted to see if you could meet his expectations if you were given access to some of that potential. In spite of Konoha's best attempts, you have proven beyond a doubt that you can harness the unlimited potential that sleeps within you Sasuke. Lord Orochimaru has sent me here to offer you the chance that few ever gain the honor of receiving, the chance to have Lord Orochimaru train you to access that potential. Will you accept Lord Orochimaru's offer Sasuke or will you lay in mud with these commoners?"

With a cold calculating smirk on his face Sasuke said, "I accept Lord Orochimaru's offer. Show me how to get to him."


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Given how this story is going, do you really think that I would allow Naruto or Sailor Moon to go how they have been going/went if I owned either of them?

When the early morning light had started to shine Tsunade had already been up for several hours. Currently Tsunade was in her office straitening out a few official documents before her shift ended. It had been her turn to supervise the graveyard shift at the hospital and to honest Tsunade had been extremely happy to have the shift. That was because of the fact that almost nothing happened on the graveyard shift and thus she was able to have some time to think in peace.

Ami's announcement yesterday that Tsunade was an un-awaken sailor scout had completely shocked Tsunade. Apparently Mokuton abilities were a byproduct caused in the Jovian Royal Family when they started to draw power from Jupiter. When Tsunade had asked what was meant by the Jovian Royal Family she hadn't been expecting what she had been told. However, Naruto and the other members of the Tsukino family had sat down and explained everything about the Sailor Scouts and the Tsukino Clan to Tsunade.

The fact that there were other worlds and that her grandfather had been a reincarnated prince or duke had been shocking enough for Tsunade. However, none of that had been nearly as shocking to Tsunade as seeing Makoto transform into Sailor Jupiter. As soon as she saw Makoto's transformation Tsunade had been determined that she would NEVER end up in one of those outfits. Even though she knew that the senshi form greatly increased a person's power, Tsunade couldn't stand the idea of being caught in such a revealing outfit. She already had enough trouble trying to keep Jiraiya from using her for 'inspiration' and 'research'.

Still, there were some benefits in Tsunade's mind to being a sailor scout. Probably the biggest benefit was the fact that the Jovian power that Tsunade had started to draw upon was slowing down her aging. Also from what Ami could tell, it was possible for the Jovian energy to actually start reversing Tsunade's biological age. If Tsuande did start to de-age then from what Ami could tell Tsunade's body would eventually end up as either her 20 or 30 year old body. However, in order for that to have a chance of happening Tsuande would have to unlock her senshi form and stay in that form for several months to a year at least.

Even though Tsunade did not want to end up in an outfit like Makoto had demonstrated, she had hesitantly asked how she could unlock her senshi form. Tsunade had never told anyone except for Shizune, but she had always regretted not having a child. For even the remote possibility that she could have a child of her own Tsunade was more then willing to put up with being a pinup girl.

According to what Tsunade had been told there were three ways that that the Tsukino Clan knew of by which she could unlock her senshi form. The first method would be for Naruto to transform into his royal form and his power to unlock Tsunade's senshi power. Another method would be for Makoto to copy her base Sailor Jupiter powers into a base transformation pen that Makoto would have to create and then graft the transformation pen onto Tsunade's growing Jovian energy. Finally Tsunade could go through a series of meditations and learn to create her own transformation pen from her Jovian energy.

All three methods had there own set of problems for Tsunade. Having Naruto unlock Tsunade's power would defiantly be the quickest way, but it had the cost of 'enslaving' her power to his. With that method Tsuande would be unable to advance her senshi abilities until either Naruto granted her more power or she broke her connection to Naruto and reformed her connection to Jupiter. Getting Makoto to unlock Tsunade's power wouldn't 'enslave' Tsunade's power to Makoto's. However, the process would be extremely painful for Tsunade and due to her age would leave Tsunade in a coma for weeks. Creating her own transformation pen would be difficult for Tsunade due to having to find where the Jovian energy was entering her and then mentally manipulating that point.

In the end, Tsunade had decided to work with the third way to achieve her senshi abilities. Thanks to Tsunade's already phenomenal chakra control she could already sense the Jovian energy flowing within her. It would still take months of hard work for Tsunade get to the point where she could create her own transformation pen. However, Tsunade was confident in her abilities that she would eventually unlock her senshi powers.

* * *

Sarutobi had just sat down at his desk in the morning ready to fight his undefeatable nemesis paperwork when an ANBU suddenly body flickered into the office. The ANBU bowed her head and said, "Lord Hokage, Sasuke Uchiha has left the village. He was last seen traveling in the company of the traitor Kabuto. A preliminary search of the Uchiha Compound has revealed that all objects of a military value and the Uchiha Clan scrolls have been removed."

For a moment the room was silent as Sarutobi thought about what the ANBU had told him. With a resigned sigh Sarutobi wearily looked at the ANBU and said, "As of this moment Sasuke Uchiha is a missing ninja. Send a squad of hunter ninjas after him and Kabito immediately. The primary mission objective for that squad will be the disposal of the younger Uchiha brother; Orochimaru must not get his hands on the Sharingan."

With a small bow of her head the ANBU left Sarutobi alone in the office. If anyone were to come into his office they would have seen Sarutobi sitting in his chair with a stormy look on his face. Not many things could get the usually jovial old Hokage enraged, but traitors were one of those few things. Orochimaru and 'The Fallen' had with their betrayals and their attacks on Konoha destroyed all the mercy that Sarutobi had used to have for missing ninjas.

Back in his first reign as Hokage, Sarutobi had been fairly merciful towards missing ninjas. Fairly merciful as in having them imprisoned for life instead of killed that is. The other Kages had known that little fact and had given Sarutobi the derogatory, in their minds at least, nickname of the 'merciful monkey'. Up until the discovery of The Fallen Sarutobi had taken a secret pleasure out of that nickname because it stated in Sarutobi's mind all the things about Konoha that made Konoha such a wonderful place.

Now however Sarutobi couldn't gain even a small smile at the nickname of merciful monkey. It no longer reminded Sarutobi about all that was good in Konoha, but instead it reminded Sarutobi about all of his failings. That name reminded Sarutobi that he was an old man well past his prime. He was a man who was steadily losing the strength of will that was needed to continue to be the leader of Konoha.

After shaking his head, Sarutobi pulled out his pipe and started to smoke. Thoughts like those never helped anyone before and they certainly wouldn't help Sarutobi now. Whether he wanted to or not Sarutobi was bound to the position of Hokage until either death or a worthy successor could relieve him of his burden. Perhaps, Sarutobi wondered, he should observe some of the more promising Jonin like Kakashi, Kurenai, or even Anko to see if they could be groomed as the Godaime.

* * *

Ino, who had been let into the compound by Luna, was casually walking towards the Tsukino onsen with a purple towel hanging over her shoulder. Makoto and Ami had asked her to visit them today and had told her to bring a towel with her. It wasn't that hard for Ino to figure out that her co-girlfriends wanted to talk with her while relaxing in the onsen.

Like Ino had suspected, Makoto and Ami were waiting for her in the onsen already. The two girls' clothes were in neatly folded piles near where their towels were placed. Without batting an eyelash Ino immediately took off her clothes, put them in a pile next to the other piles, and proceeded to get into the onsen. Once Ino was in the onsen she gave a sigh of contentment as she enjoyed the warm water.

For a minute or so all three girls just quietly relaxed in the outdoor bath. Ino then broke the silence and said, "So why did you two ask me to come over? Not that I don't like hanging out with you girls, but why this time? If you had asked me to come over just a few hours later then we could have had Naruto join us."

In a slightly sarcastic but still good natured manner Makoto jokingly answered Ino's question. "There's a very good reason why we asked you here Ino, we need to decide the order of who gets to give Naruto a lap dance when he gets back from his meeting with the other Chunin." Makoto let out a small chuckle when she saw Ino's jaw drop a bit. In a slightly more serious but still very jovial voice Makoto then said, "If you're going to dish it out Ino you're got to learn how to take it as well."

Not wanting to have her place as the apprentice people shocker usurped so easily, Ino got up and start to walk towards Makoto. There was a predatory smirk on Ino's face as she closed in on a now slightly nervous Makoto. Ino then sat on Makoto's lap and twisted herself so that she and Makoto were facing each other with their breasts pressed together. With her mouth next to Makoto's ear Ino quietly said, "Instead of lap dances maybe we should stay like this. After all, the sight of two women like this would be more then enough to knock out even the most discipline of men."

Ami just shook her head and said in a clear, gentle, and commanding tone, "Enough. Ino, get off of Makoto and save the whole seductress routine for another time. Makoto, remember your own words and don't forget who teaches Ino." Once Ino had sheepishly returned to her spot Ami started to speak again. "The reason why you're over here now while Naruto is away Ino is because I've found a possible fourth wife for Naruto."

That a possible fourth wife had been found was not something that Ino had honestly been expecting to hear when she had been invited over. What made the whole situation all the more surprising for Ino was that _Ami _had been the person to find the possible fourth wife. Ino then said with her eyebrow raised in a questioning manner. "Who is she Ami and how did you find her?"

In a calm and slightly care-free manner Ami replied, "Its Temari. I've been observing her for the past month or so, especially her interactions with Naruto. Her body posture, the look in her eyes, even the tone of her voice all show that she is in love with him. It's also obvious that she has been trying to hide this little fact. I know that because I did the same things as she is doing except for the fact that I did a far better job at hiding my feelings. Also, I noticed a slight look of longing in Naruto's eyes whenever he looks at Temari. It's the exact same look that he has when he looks at any of us."

After carefully thinking about what Ami had told her, Ino cheerfully said, "So how do we get Temari to join the harem? Would it be easier for us if we were to approach Temari first, talk to Naruto first, or go after both of them at the same time?"

Neither Makoto nor Ami was at all surprised by how easily Ino accepted the idea of Temari sharing Naruto with them. Ino might have a very aggressive and assertive personality, but she also had a huge heart. Makoto then spoke up and said, "In answer to your question Ino, Ami and I were thinking of double-teaming the two of them. You and I would work on getting Naruto to admit to his feelings for Temari while Ami works on Temari."

Ino quickly voiced her approval for the plan as she couldn't come up with anything better. The trio then spent a few more minutes in the onsen before they got out, changed, and headed inside for some lunch.

* * *

Naruto, Kiba, and a few other chunin were running through the tree branches towards one of the newly established early warning outposts about three miles from Konoha. They had all been attending one of the mandatory monthly chunin meetings when a message arrived stating that the outpost was under attack. Sarutobi, who had been observing the meeting at the time, had immediately asked for a team of volunteers to go and help the ninjas at the outpost.

As the group started to approach the outpost Naruto started feel a familiar dark presence in the general direction of the outpost. For a moment Naruto's face showed a sense of uneasiness as he tried to figure out where he had felt that sort of presence before. His face immediately hardened when Naruto realized where he had felt that presence before. In a commanding voice Naruto called out, "Everyone stay on your guard. Our foes are Sound Ninjas that have active curse seals."

While several of the older chunin wanted to know how Naruto could possibly know who they were up against, no one questioned him. There was just something in Naruto's voice that made everyone else trust that what he said was the truth. Unintentionally and unofficially Naruto had taken control of the group with that statement. His leadership of the group became cemented in everyone else's minds when they watch Naruto transform into Moonlight Knight in mid jump.

When the Konoha chunins reached the clearing where the outpost was they were greeted by a gruesome sight. The outpost that they had come to defend was up in flames. Their comrades' butchered bodies were lying on the ground in a haphazard manner. Standing amid this were five demonic looking humans. Naruto instantly recognized four of the people in front of him as Orochimaru's guards from the invasion. From what Naruto could sense, those four were all stronger then they had been in the invasion and their unknown fifth companion was even stronger then them.

Instantly Naruto called out, "Leave the one in the center with the protruding bones to me. Double team the remaining four and remember to watch your backs. These ninjas were chosen by Orochimaru to be his personal guards so they are obviously quite powerful." With that said all the Konoha ninjas charged at the Sound ninjas.

The fighting between the two groups on that blood stained field was extremely fierce. Naruto was aware of how fierce the fighting was only on a subconscious level. He knew where his allies and enemies were and in what condition they were in. However, Naruto was concentrating his attention on his current enemy. From what Naruto could tell his bone wielding opponent was at least as strong as he was and was a good deal more skilled with a blade. Since the bone blades did not show any signs of weakening due to the celestial chakra in his katana Naruto assumed that the bone manipulation was some sort of bloodline ability.

As Naruto and his opponent dueled with each other over the minutes Naruto started to become more and more nervous. In the back of his mind Naruto knew that the battle was not going well for his side. Thanks to the cursed seals the sound ninjas were stronger and had larger chakra reserves then Naruto's comrades. What made the situation worse was the fact that the sound ninjas were a lot more serious in this fight then they had been during the invasion.

In an attempt to gain the upper hand of the battle, Naruto jumped up into the air and sent a Serenity Slash towards the red haired girl hoping that she would be slain by his attack at her back. However, that attack was stopped because one of the other sound ninjas shouted out a warning. This fact troubled Naruto greatly as he was put on the defensive by the bone wielding ninja. The sound ninjas were no longer a group of fighters battling the same area, they were a team now.

While dodging a series of bone missiles less then a minute later Naruto saw one of the chunin that had come with him fall down dead. Instantly the tactical part of Naruto's mind went into overdrive analyzing what his comrade's death meant for the fight. That cold and rational part of Naruto knew that things had taken a turn for the worse. Unless something happened to change the balance of power in the fight he and his comrades would be killed one by one. What they needed right now was a miracle.

* * *

To Naruto's immense surprise, he was suddenly at the Silver Millennium ruins. After the initial shock of no longer being in the middle of a battlefield wore off, Naruto started to smile. If he was here then his grandmother must be trying to tell him something. Hopefully whatever it was the she was going to tell him would allow him to turn the tide in the battle.

Since Queen Serenity hadn't immediately appeared to him, Naruto figured that she was waiting for him to find her. Naruto then started to glance about his location trying to find a clue as to where he was supposed to go. After a minute of looking Naruto noticed that the stones that were leading towards the ruins of the palace were smoother then the surrounding pavement stones. He quickly decided to take a chance and started to walk along the smoothen path.

The path had led Naruto to the palace steps which he had promptly started to climb. Once he had finished with the steps Naruto had then proceeded into the palace. Instead of following any sort of path Naruto was now following his gut feeling. There was just something inside of him that seemed to be telling Naruto where he needed to go. Upon reaching a set of ornate double doors Naruto knew that he had found where he needed to go.

Naruto opened the doors and saw his grandmother Queen Serenity calmly standing on a slightly raised platform. Behind her were five thrones, four were covered in silver while the larger one in the center was made out of gold. Resting on each of the thrones was a crown with the center throne having a larger and more ornate crown then the others.

Queen Serenity gave Naruto a small smile and then picked up the crown from the central throne. She then quietly approached Naruto and gently placed the crown on his head. In her motherly voice Queen Serenity then said, "A perfect fit. If your queens were here right Naruto now I'm sure that all four of them would approve." See the surprised look in Naruto's eyes only brought a slight chuckle to Queen Serenity. "Don't be so surprised grandson. I know all about those four women that you hold so special in your heart. Just give all of them a chance and I assure you that things will work out."

Without giving Naruto a chance to respond to her previous statement, Queen Serenity adopted a slightly more formal tone and stated. "Now then Naruto, before you came here you were in the middle of a battle correct? It is a battle that you and your comrades are steadily loosing due to the fact that your opponents are stronger, more skilled, and have better teamwork then your forces do. You have already lost one of your allies and as far as you can tell it is only a matter of time before these Sound Four kill your other teammates."

Naruto started to look down to the ground in embarrassment. However, before Naruto could start to brood about the situation Queen Serenity laid her hand gently on his cheek and softly continued on. "You have nothing to be ashamed of Naruto for how the battle is going. After all, you went into a situation without having any knowedge of who your opponents were with a team that you didn't really know. Yes you are powerful and yes you are very skilled, but you are also still young Naruto. There are still many things in the world that you haven't encountered yet or have the experience to deal with."

For a minute the hall that Queen Serenity and Naruto were in was quiet as the queen allowed Naruto to think about what she had said. Once that minute was over, Queen Serenity suddenly picked up Naruto and carried the startled boy over to the thrones. Before Naruto got over his shock and started to ask what was going on, Queen Serenity tenderly placed him in the golden throne. She then summoned a katana, which according to Naruto's gut was the exact same katana that he used as Moonlight Knight, and carefully inspected it.

"Interesting is it not grandson?" Queen Serenity said as the katana glistened in the Earth light. "Back in the Silver Millennium the Silver Crystal was seen as a sign of our family's special _royal _power. Everyone knew what the Crystal looked like as it never changed its _form _from one ruler to the next." For a moment Queen Serenity paused and presented the katana to Naruto with it laying in both of her hands before continuing on. "Its fitting don't you think that the Silver Crystal would _change_ its_ form _to something _more suitable_ for your situation Naruto? After all, you are a warrior and not a healer like your mother and I were in life."

Naruto had very quickly caught on to the fact that his grandmother was trying to give him a clue as to how he could turn the tide of the battle. Why she was doing it this way instead of just telling him outright Naruto didn't know. Perhaps whatever allowed her to visit him was preventing her from telling him outright or maybe she was trying to get him to think on his own. However that didn't matter at the moment for Naruto, he had figured out what Queen Serenity had been hinting at.

The instant that Naruto figured out what Queen Serenity was trying to tell him the Lunar Palace started to disappear around Naruto. As the world disappeared around Naruto he heard Queen Serenity whisper to him. "You make me proud Grandson."

* * *

Instantly back on the battlefield, Naruto barely had a chance to reorient himself before having to doge a whip made out of bones. While still on his knees Naruto grinned and called out to his opponent, "I hope that your conscience is clear because I'm about to send you to met your maker." Naruto then stood up and withdrew his katana from its scabbard.

Kimimaro just gave a snort of disbelief at Naruto's proclamation. While Kimimaro would grudgingly admit that Naruto was a formidable opponent, Kimimaro didn't think for a second that Naruto could hope to beat him. Maybe if he was still suffering from that horrible lung disease Naruto proclamation could have come true, but not now. Kabuto had somehow found a way to cure that blasted illness and Kimimaro was once again in top form. However, before Kimimaro could charge at Naruto with the flower part of the Clematis Dance, his body suddenly froze up on him. Kimimaro heard a faint humming noise come from Naruto and then there was a bright flash of silvery light that came from Naruto.

When the light disappeared Naruto wasn't in his Moonlight Knight outfit anymore. Naruto was now wearing silver samurai armor with a fox half facemask. Also, Naruto was wearing a white haori over his armor. The back of the haori had the Tsukino clan crest on it while the edges of the haori were embroidered in blue.

As he looked at Naruto in his new outfit, Kimimaro felt like was looking at a predator. In an attempt to regain his nerve Kimimaro shouted out, "Is that all! Do you really think that making yourself look like a samurai will help you out?"

Naruto did not answer Kimimaro's question and stretched out his left hand instead. In a quiet voice so that Kimimaro could barely hear him Naruto called out, "Selene Senbon Shotgun." Instantly a dozen glowing silver senbon needles shot out of Naruto's exposed palm at almost supersonic speeds. The attack was far too fast for Kimimaro to hope to warn his teammates and all the rest of the Sound Four were struck by Naruto's attack. All four members of the Sound Four let out bloodcurdling screams and started drop out of the second curse stage.

The other Konoha ninjas' were shocked at what they were witnessing. With a single attack in his new form Naruto had brought the Sound Four to their knees. As shocked as they were however, none of the Konoha ninjas wasted the opening that Naruto had created for them. Within a few seconds of Naruto's attack Kimimaro was the only Sound Ninja left alive.

With his katana extended towards Kimimaro, Naruto calmly said, "I am Naruto Tsukino, son of the Yondaime Hokage and the heir of the Silver Millennium royal family. You have two options available to you sound ninja. Either surrender now and be brought in for questioning or die by my blade."

This announcement of Naruto's completely incensed Kimimaro. With his face practically shaking with rage Kimimaro yelled out "How dare you ask me to betray Lord Orochimaru!" Abandoning any and all sense of reason at that point Kimimaro let out a primal roar and blindly charged at Naruto with his bone drill.

With a detached air Naruto quietly uttered, "So be it." He then pulled back his katana, made a circular motion with his blade arm, and then made a hard downward slash. While he was doing this Naruto was calmly said, "Silver, Shogun, SHOCKWAVE!" A huge wall of silver colored energy emerged from the end of Naruto's blade and moved towards Kimimaro like a tidal wave. The wall of energy move so fast that Kimimaro was unable to doge the oncoming attack and was vaporized.

As soon as Naruto saw that he had killed Kimimaro, he transformed back into his normal clothes as he fell to his knees before he fell completely to the ground. Kiba, who was the closest person to Naruto at the time, instantly ran to Naruto's side. Immediately after he got to Naruto's side Kiba checked for Naruto's pulse and let out a sigh of relief when he felt it. In a slightly sarcastic voice Kiba then said, "Don't do this to me Naruto. Ino would skin me alive if I didn't bring you back home alive."

* * *

Sasuke and Kabuto were walking through one of the many secret bases that made up the hidden village of Oto. The two of them had managed to avoid encountering all of Konoha's forces in their escape. Kabuto knew that the Sound Four's little raiding spree was probably what had helped them escape. After all, the Hokage would likely be forced to pull back a good deal of Konoha's forces to deal with a possible second invasion.

Seeing the grumpy and egotistic look on Sasuke's face, Kabuto was forced to remind himself that the brat was of more use to him alive then dead for now. In his disarming and charming voice Kabuto said as the duo approached a set of doors. "Orochimaru is in here Sasuke. He has been expecting you and is most eager to meet with you."

In a supremely arrogant manner Sasuke coldly said, "Of course he is eager to meet me. I am a Uchiha." With that said Sasuke opened the door and walked inside the dark room. Kabuto waited outside in the hallway for a few minutes calmly humming to pass the time. His humming was suddenly interrupted by a young man's screams that came from the dark room.

"So much for the pampered prince of Konoha," Kabuto said a nonchalant manner. Then with a more sadistic look on his face Kabuto continued talking to himself. "Oh dear, it seems to have slipped my mind that I injected Sasuke with a special neurotoxin. Normally that particular toxin won't have any signicant effect on a human's body. However, I fear that the stress brought about by the soul transfer jutsu that Orochimaru uses will cause too much stress for poor Sasuke's heart."

Kabuto then raised one of his hands to his ear and with his demonic hearing listened to the faint sound of labored breathing coming from the dark room. After a minute the breathing stopped altogether and Kabuto just shook his head. "Oh well, looks like its time for me to take direct control of this part of the operation. Also, I should remember to send the brat's eyes over to Madara. Why he wants those impure things I'll never know, but then again Madara always was slightly sick in the head."


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: Hopefully anyone who has read this far into the story will realize that I don't own Naruto or Sailor Moon.

Naruto opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Ino's face as she leaned over him. Ino gave Naruto a soft smile and said, "So you decided to wake up Naruto." She then flicked Naruto in between the eyes with her right hand and said very loudly, "Don't ever do that again Naruto!" When Naruto looked at Ino again a second after she had practically yelled at him he saw her standing next to him with her arms folded across her chest. In a much softer and loving tone Ino said as Naruto looked at her, "Do you know how scared I was when I saw Kiba come into town carrying your unconscious body? How scared that sight of you like that made all of us feel?"

The mention of 'all of us' caused Naruto to look around the room he was in. It was then that Naruto realized that he was lying on a hospital bed with Ino, Makoto, Ami, and to Naruto's surprise Temari standing in the room looking at him. Ino, Makoto, and Ami were all standing around his bed while Temari was leaning against the wall off to the side a bit. Naruto took a second to collect his thoughts and then he said, "How long have I been out?"

Ami who was standing across the bed from Ino decided to speak up. "You've been out ever since your team returned from the mission. That was almost five hours ago Naruto. According to the doctors you were suffering from a serious case of chakra exhaustion. In fact, most of the doctors were expecting you to wake up until morning at the very earliest."

Naruto gave a small sigh and then said in a surprisingly somber tone, "Sorry for worrying you girls. I didn't want to cause _any _of you to worry about me. It's just, that I couldn't allow my comrades to be killed if I could stop it." After pausing for a moment to let what he said sink in Naruto continued on, "I can't promise that I won't do something in the future that will cause you to worry about. However, I can promise that I won't use my royal form in battle until I ether master it or I have no other option but to use it. You are all precious to me and I don't want to see any of you hurt."

For a moment Ino, Ami, and Makoto just looked at Naruto with serious looks on their faces showing that they were thinking about what Naruto had just said. Then one by one all three girls gave Naruto a kiss and then left the room after saying goodbye. Once Ami who was the last of the trio left the room Temari silently turned to leave as well. However, Naruto noticed Temari's movement and called out. "Temari, wait a minute."

Temari stopped in her tracks and slowly turned to face Naruto. In a neutral yet still friendly tone she said, "Yes Naruto. What do you want to say to me?" It was taking every ounce of willpower that Temari had keep from bursting into tears. She had been hanging out with Ami when the news about Naruto had reached her. Despite her mind telling her that it would be a bad idea, Temari had followed her heart and had accompanied Ami to Naruto's hospital room. Right now Temari was wishing that she had listened to her mind instead of her heart. It was just so painful to her to see Naruto looking on Ami, Ino, and Makoto with love in his eyes and not see something like that for her.

At the same time, Naruto was dealing with an inner struggle of his own. When Naruto had spotted Temari in the hospital room he had been reminded of Queen Serenity's words: Your queens… all four of them. The first three 'queens' that Queen Serenity had mention had been easy for Naruto. But now, as Naruto looked at Temari he realized that she was his fourth queen. In that moment Naruto realized that part of the reason why he had been asking Ino, Makoto, and Ami about whether they felt he was being fair to them so often was because he had been excluding Temari.

His subconscious had been trying to give all the women that he loved their fair share of his time, but it had been blocked by his conscious mind which until recently had only recognized three girls. This realization hurt Naruto because he realized that he had been the cause of Temari's pain. Not knowing what he could say that could make up for what he had done Naruto simply looked into Temari's eyes and softly spoke. "When I said 'you are all precious to me', I meant you just as much as the others."

Those simple heartfelt words of Naruto's broke the wall that Temari had been trying to place around her heart. First the tears started to build in Temari's eyes. Next her face softened and her lips started to quiver. Finally Temari couldn't hold in anymore and she ran over to Naruto's bed practically throwing herself into Naruto's arms. In that moment Temari's pride and dignity didn't matter to her. All that mattered to her was how she felt about Naruto and the fact that he reciprocated those feelings.

* * *

As G'Kar was walking down the streets of Konoha he noticed the solemn mood that many of the villagers were in. This confused G'Kar because when he had last been in Konoha after the Sand/Sound invasion the villagers had been very determined. What could have caused them to become so depressed after being so resolute in the face of a failed invasion? G'Kar made a mental note to ask about whatever had caused this during is upcoming meeting with the Hokage.

Once G'Kar reached the Hokage tower he nodded to the two guards on duty and firmly said, "My name is G'Kar Narn. I am here to speak with the Hokage on a matter concerning both Konoha and my clan." Both guards recognized G'Kar and knew that he had help defend the village during the invasion. One of the guards went inside to check with internal security while the other guard struck up a friendly conversation with G'Kar. When the first guard came back outside he politely told G'Kar that G'Kar was allowed to go see the Hokage.

It took G'Kar about five minutes to reach Sarutobi's office, but when he did reach the office he was immediately called in by Sarutobi. Once inside G'Kar clasped his hands together and said in his charming diplomatic voice, "It's good to see you again Lord Sarutobi. I hope you haven't had to beat the women off of you too hard these days?"

This obvious joke caused Sarutobi to snort and say in a good humored way, "Sadly the women of Konoha haven't realized what their missing out on." The two leaders then let out a hardy laugh for a minute. After the laughter subsided Sarutobi said in a much more business like manner, "Okay G'Kar. What does the Narn Clan want with Konoha?"

G'Kar made his way to the open seat that was facing Sarutobi and then spoke once he sat down. "As you know Lord Sarutobi, the Narn Clan has traditionally been a rather isolationist clan. While the clan is on relatively friendly relations with all of the major ninja villages, we have stayed away from interacting too closely with any particular village. However, due to the reports that the clan has been getting for the past few months from our spy rings, the clan's high council has made an unprecedented decision. I am here to discuss possible terms for the Narn Clan's incorporation into Konoha."

Sarutobi's eyes widened when he heard what G'Kar had just said. After mentally making sure that his hearing wasn't going out due to his old age Sarutobi smiled. Having the Narn Clan join Konoha would defiantly boost the village's mood. Sasuke's defection from the village had been a major blow to village moral do to the fact that so many of the villagers had pinned their hopes and expectations on Sasuke. Personally Sarutobi had thought that those villagers had been slightly premature to put that much emphasis on one still green genin, but he couldn't deny that it had happened or the effects that had occurred as a result of Sasuke's leaving.

Quickly remembering that he hadn't said anything to G'Kar, Sarutobi quickly stated his thoughts on G'Kar's proposal. "I certainly don't see any reason why the Narn Clan can't move to Konoha. Now I can't give you exact details on everything relating to the integration of your clan into the village at the moment as I am sure you are aware. However, I can promise you this: if the Narn Clan does join Konoha it will receive adequate land for all of its members to build their homes and that no member of your clan will be discriminated against when it comes to mission assignments."

This was pretty much what G'Kar had expected out of Sarutobi for this meeting. Obviously, exact terms wouldn't be decided until after the bureaucrats got to do their little song and dance. Today's meeting was just to get the ball rolling for the whole process. Personally G'Kar couldn't wait for the whole show to be over and the clan firmly established within Konoha. The sooner they were within the eye of the storm, the safer they would be in the future.

* * *

Setsuna was walking down the street when her eye caught sight of something that caused her to stop. From her spot in the sidewalk Setsuna could see the slumped form of Kakashi sitting on a barstool. This sight surprised Setsuna because she knew that her not quite boyfriend was not one to visit bars. Porn, not booze, was Kakashi's vice of choice after all.

Wanting to know what was going on with Kakashi; Setsuna just shrugged her shoulders and went into the bar. Once she was in the bar Setsuna calmly walked over and sat down on the stool to Kakashi's right. She then said very calmly, "Why you here Kakashi?"

In a semi-sober manner Kakashi said, "I'm a failure. So many people in the village are depressed because I was such a poor teacher. If only I had handled Sasuke better, forced him to see the path that he was walking down, come down harder on him, or something then that brat wouldn't have left the village. It seems that no matter how hard I try, no matter how many missions I complete successfully, I am cursed to fail when it really matters for other people."

This slightly slurred speech of Kakashi's struck a cord in Setsuna's heart. It wasn't that long ago that Setsuna could remember Kakashi having to pull her out of a depression fit. A depression fit, Setsuna was very much aware of, that was almost exactly like what Kakashi was currently going through. Setsuna knew that she wanted to help Kakashi get out of his depression. It was the least she could do after what he had done for her and Setsuna honestly didn't want to see Kakashi in this state. She much preferred Kakashi to be in his usual laid back and friendly manner over the state that he was in now.

While taking a deep breath, Setsuna thought about what she should say and then she spoke. "Look Kakashi, you've done nothing that merits the anguish your putting yourself in. The Uchiha traitor left because he wanted to and would likely have left no matter what you or anyone else could have done. He had blackened his heart so much over his desire for revenge that even Usagi would have had a difficult time trying to reach him. No offence Kakashi, but compared to Usagi when it comes to reaching other people you are a rock."

"As for the villagers," her Setsuna paused to snort, "They were extremely foolish to put so much emphasis on the brat. I mean, they were singing his praises and treating him like a decorated war hero when he was an academy student who had only survived a massacre because the boy's brother didn't seem to think that it was worth his time to kill Sasuke. You would think that people living in a place like Konoha would realize that people are only worthy of praise when they work on their own merits. Now get your head out of that bottle Kakashi."

Kakashi seemed to immediately sober up completely when Setsuna told him to get his head out of the bottle. Although he might never admit it out loud, Kakashi cared a great deal about what Setsuna had to say when she talked to him. After give the bottle one last glace, Kakashi immediately tossed the bottle out of the bar where it promptly smashed into the street. He then turned to Setsuna and said, "Thanks Setsuna helping me get my head back on strait."

Setsuna then gave Kakashi a small smile and said, "Your welcome Kakashi and don't let me catch you getting drunk again. Otherwise you'll see what happens when I use my Time Staff for 1,000 years of pain." Naturally Kakashi shivered in fear for a few seconds at Setsuna's threat. This caused Setsuna to chuckle humorously, "Don't worry Kakashi. I doubt that I'll ever have you do that to you don't you think so?"

With that Setsuna left the bar and Kakashi just sighed as he paid his bill. Setsuna was a puzzle surrounded by an enigma wrapped up in a mystery to Kakashi and she was, to borrow a classic Nara phrase, 'troublesome'. And yet, Kakashi just couldn't help but want to spend time with Setsuna. As he walked out the bar Kakashi quietly wished that he could talk to his old sensei. If anyone could really help him out where Setsuna was involved Kakashi was sure that Minato would have been that person.

* * *

Temari was walking to the Tsukino Clan house and she was wondering why Naruto had called her over. It had been about a month since she and Naruto had confessed their feelings about each other. At first Temari had been afraid that she would have to face a lot of hostility from Naruto's other three girlfriends. However, to Temari's surprise Ami, Makoto, and Ino all welcomed her into the harem with minimal fuss. Apparently those three had already been aware of Temari's and Naruto's feelings for each other and those three had actually been planning to get Temari and Naruto together.

Of course, that didn't mean that the four girls didn't occasionally get into arguments. This was real life after all and not one of Jiraiya's Icha Icha books. However, those squabbles were relatively minor and didn't result in any hard feelings between the four girls or Naruto. All for girls did care for each other and they didn't want to see each other hurt. The concern that each of the four girls felt for each other was strictly that of a good friend or possibly that of a sister. It did NOT in any way translate into 'girl on girl action' as some of more perverted people had the nerve to suggest. Luckily the worst offenders wouldn't have to worry about contaminating the gene pool anymore.

As Temari turned the corner and started walking down the sidewalk to the gate of the Tsukino house she noticed Ino walking towards her. The two girls met at the door and quickly said hello. They then headed inside and once inside they headed to Naruto's office. When Temari and Ino opened the door to Naruto's office they noticed that Ami and Makoto were sitting on the couch inside. Naruto was sitting behind his desk and was apparently looking at a document that was on his desk.

Less then a second after Ino and Temari opened the door Naruto looked up from his desk and smiled at the girls. He then said, "Good day Ino and Temari. If you wouldn't mind could you go sit down by Makoto and Ami?" Once Temari and Ino sat down Naruto folded his hands together and looked at his four loves. He then said in a slightly nervous manner, "I know that meeting in this manner is very unusual for us. However, something has happened that will affect all of us and I think that all of you girls need to know about it."

Instantly all four girls were giving Naruto a 100 of their attention. They knew from Naruto's tone that what he was going to tell them wouldn't hurt them. However, they all were curious as to what could affect all of them.

Naruto cleared he throat and then calmly said, "The other day after the High Council session that I attended I was pulled over to the side by your father Ino. Don't worry Ino he wasn't trying to do an angry protective father routine on me. Actually, he wanted to talk to me about a personal alliance between the Tsukino Clan and the Yamanaka Clan. This document on my desk was given to me by Ino's father. It is a bethrothal contract between Ino and me stating that we will be married by the end of October of this year when I am legally allowed to wed."

After looking each of his girlfriends in the eye to judge their reactions to his news Naruto continued on. "This is a matter that concerns all of us and I wouldn't feel right making a decision about it without talking to all of you. Ino, do you want us to get married before your brother is born or do you want to hold off on marriage to a latter date? Makoto, Ami, and Temari, how would you three feel if Ino and I got married? Would any of you three like me to draw up marriage contracts as well or would you feel more comfortable with holding off on that?"

The four girls immediately started to glance at each other and then they huddled together. Naruto couldn't make out what the girls were saying to each other, but he could tell that they were rapidly talking to each other. After a few minutes the girls ended their huddle and Ino started to speak. "We've talked it over Naruto and here is what we have decided. You and I will marry a few days after your birthday like my father stated in his marriage proposal. Then a few days after our honeymoon is over you'll marry Makoto, Ami, or Temari. We then repeat this until all four of us have married you. To save you any grief Ami, Temari, and Makoto will decide among themselves in what order you will marry them."

While he tried not to show it, Naruto was relieved when he heard what his girls had decided. All of his girlfriends were wonderful and very understanding people; however, Inoichi Yamanaka's little proposal could have definitely set off some fireworks among the girls. Naruto then got up and walked over to the girls. He gave the girls a smile that made them weak in the knees and then he said, "If that is how you girl's want it. Who am I to deny the whishes of my princesses?"

* * *

Anko walked into the Hokage's office wondering why she had been summoned. When she got in Sarutobi politely motioned for her to sit down and then he said. "Good afternoon Anko. I was just reading your report on your last solo mission and I must say that I'm impressed. There aren't that many ninjas that I know about who can take down 10 A Rank missing ninjas and 20 B Rank missing ninjas by themselves at once. Before you say anything I know that you took out about two thirds of those ninjas by poisoning their food. However, that just shows that you know how to think about a situation and press your advantage."

There was a faint hint of a blush on Anko's cheeks as she listened to Sarutobi's praise. With Team Maelstrom temporally disbanded so that Ino could join Team 7 for the Chunin Exams Anko had found herself with a lot of time on her hands. So to keep busy, Anko had been regularly taking various missions. The mission that Sarutobi was referring to had simply been a wrongly marked mission that Anko hadn't been able to call for reinforcements in time.

Still, Anko couldn't help but and her own opinion of the mission. "Sir," she began, "The mission was a near disaster. Yes I did take out the Yonjimbo Corps and I miraculously made it out with just a few scraps and a serious case of chakra exhaustion. But, it's just that: a miracle. By all accounts I should have died in that mission."

Sarutobi then calmly said, "At times Anko having a miracle is what matters." To Anko's surprise Sarutobi then got up, started to walk out of the room, and quietly motioned for her to follow. Anko quietly followed the old leader as he lead her down the halls even though she was confused about why he wanted her to follow him. The two of them walked practically side by side in silence as Sarutobi slowly led Anko up to the roof platform of the Hokage Tower.

For a moment the two of them just stood on the roof looking at Konoha in silence. Sarutobi then said in a voice that showed his age, "Beautiful view is it not? I often like to come up here and look out on the village when the paperwork starts to get to me. It helps to remind me why I took up the mantle of Hokage all those years ago."

Anko turned her head to look at Sarutobi and with a confused look on her face she said, "That's great sir. But why are you telling this to me? I seriously doubt that you tell every ninja under your command about this."

A small sigh escaped Sarutobi's lips and he said, "You're right Anko. I don't usually tell this to the various ninjas under my command." Sarutobi's voice then got sadder and more tired sounding as he continued to talk to Anko. "I am old Anko. My Chakra reserves have degraded to the point where the weaker jonin in the village has as much chakra as I do. Konoha needs a new and vibrate energy that I can't provide; Konoha needs a new Hokage."

Sarutobi then turned to face Anko and he said, "My time as ruler has passed. As an advisor I can continue to help the village, but I cannot remain Hokage for much longer if Konoha is to continue to prosper. Originally I had hoped that either Jiraiya or Tsunade would agree to become my successor, but that was not to be. Ever since both of my students rejected my offer I have been carefully examining the ninjas of Konoha trying to find someone worthy of being the Gondaime. Anko, I want you to become the Gondaime Hokage."

Upon seeing the look of utter surprise and shock on Anko's face Sarutobi pressed onward. "Anko out of the Jonin of this village only you, Kakashi, Asuma, Gai, and to a lesser extent Kurenai have developed a reputation among the other nations that a Kage uses to help shield the village during hard times. However, only you Anko show all of the requirements needed to be a successful Hokage."

"I don't want to put any pressure on you Anko, but you are the last real alternative that I have to be my successor. Gai and Kurenai are unable to command the respect that a leader needs. Also they don't have the will that a ruler needs to reassure a worried populous during tough times. Asuma might have been the leader of the 12 Guardians, but he doesn't have the head for the intrigue that accompanies the office of Hokage. Finally Kakashi just doesn't have the mental strength to deal with the pain that the title of Hokage brings with it. He also has trouble in thinking of things in the long term instead of just till the mission ends."

As Anko listened to Sarutobi talk about the failings that her comrades had she started to feel like a scared little girl. In an almost Hinata-like stutter Anko said, "You can't be serious Sir. I don't have those skills or abilities that you've been talking about. Hell I'm worse at them then all the others!"

Sarutobi gently placed his hand on Anko's shoulders and then said in his wise grandfather voice, "Don't sell yourself so short Anko. You have all of these skills and more in great abundance. I know that you are worthy to be the Hokage and that Konoha would flourish under your reign."

Anko was still quite shocked to hear that Sarutobi considered her worthy of being the Gondaime even though his words had started to have their effect. She realized that Sarutobi wouldn't have suggested this unless what he claimed to see in her actually existed. He had been right on many occasions and most importantly of all to Anko, he had always trusted her. How could she honestly stay worthy of Sarutobi's trust if she didn't trust him in return? Anko looked Sarutobi in the eye and firmly said, "I accept your offer to become the Gondaime Hokage."

* * *

Madara stood alone in a deep cavern under Amegakure and smiled. In front of him was a giant black statue made out of demonic stone. The statue was almost completed except for the fact that it was missing the head of the statue. For over 100 years Madara and his two fellow agents had been working to complete this King of Hell Statue. It had been slow going because demonic stone was not native to this world and had to be sporadically shipped over from hell in the tiny temporary fissures that occasionally opened up.

With a sinister chuckle Madara started to talk to himself, "After a century of work we're almost done. Sai reported that he has collect the last bit of demonic stone that we need to finish fashioning this statue. Kabuto says that it will take him and Sai about three years to fully prepare and carve the stone so that I can attach it to the rest of the statue. In three years, I can truly begin my task for Lord Astaroth."

After so many years of working, Madara could hardly believe that his work was almost finished. Once the King of Hell Statue was completed, then his little puppet group the Akatsuki could start capturing the rebels. With those traitors' power harnessed by the statue Madara and his fellow agents would be able to open a gateway to Hell itself so that the Armies of Lord Astaroth could ravage this world. In three years, Armageddon would occur…

* * *

-HistorianoftheKais here. Don't flame me or send me threats but this is the end of this part of the Mother Moon Saga. I'm taking a break from this story for a bit but I will return (as anyone who has read Prince of the Planets/Crest of the King knows I do keep my word on these kinds of things) at a later date to continue this story. To those who have this story on Author Alert, I will post one more chapter after this one to notify you guys when I've started to write the sequel and what it's name is.


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